New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said the courts are a temple of justice and no court can allow itself to be used as an instrument of fraud. The apex court made the remarks while ordering a CBI investigation in a case in which a petitioner had denied filing an appeal and also had never hired any of the lawyers present in the court to file a case on his behalf.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma said: “No court can allow itself to be used as an instrument of fraud and no court can allow its eyes to be closed to the fact that it is being used as an instrument of fraud”.
The bench directed a CBI probe after the man denied filing a petition in connection with a rape and kidnapping case quashed by the Allahabad High Court against a key witness in the infamous 2002 Nitish Katara murder case.
Justice Trivedi, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said the court deems it appropriate to hand over the investigation of the case to the CBI. “The CBI shall register the regular case, after holding preliminary inquiry if necessary to do so, against all the persons found involved and responsible, and shall investigate all the links leading to the commission of the alleged crimes and fraud on court”, she said, in the 40-page judgment.
The bench said Bhagwan Singh, the petitioner, had never met any of the said advocates nor had instructed any advocates to file the proceedings in the high court or the Supreme Court. “Though he had never met his daughter Rinki and son-in-law, Sukh Pal since the time they had eloped and married each other in 2013, they with the help and assistance of the said advocates had tried to misuse and abuse the process of law and malign the stream of justice”, said the bench.
Advocate Nikhil Majithia appeared for Singh and assisted the apex court in unearthing the fraud being played on it. The apex court said the Director, CBI is directed to do the needful in this regard and submit a report to this court within two months.
The bench said the wrongdoers must fear the law that they will be punished, the innocents must be assured that they will not be, and the victims must be confident that they will get justice. It stressed that this is what a citizen of a democratic country like India, governed by rule of law would legitimately expect from the courts. “The courts are called the ‘temple of justice’. However, often brazen attempts are being made to abuse and misuse the process of law by committing frauds in courts. This is one of such cases where such an attempt has been made to pollute the stream of justice”, said the bench.
Justice Trivedi said people repose immense faith in the judiciary, and the Bar being an integral part of the Justice delivery system, has been assigned a very crucial role in preserving the independence of justice and the very democratic set-up of the country.
The bench stressed that it is a serious concern when advocates, who are officers of the court, are involved and “when they actively participate in ill-motivated litigation of unscrupulous litigants and assist them in misusing and abusing the process of law to achieve their ulterior purposes”.
“Lawyers are perceived to be very responsible officers of the court and an important adjunct of the administration of justice”, said the bench, adding that there is a great sanctity attached to the proceedings conducted in the court.
“Every advocate putting his signatures on the Vakalatnamas and on the documents to be filed in the courts, and every advocate appearing fora party in the courts, particularly in the Supreme Court, the highest court of the country is presumed to have filed the proceedings and put his/her appearance with all sense of responsibility and seriousness. No professional, much less legal professional, is immune from being prosecuted for his/her criminal misdeeds”, said Justice Trivedi.
The bench said there are certain sinister cabal of unscrupulous litigants and a coterie of their counsellors, who are always busy taking undue advantage of the systemic lacunae and misusing the process of law, in turn damaging the image of the courts as also of the entire legal fraternity and legal profession.
The bench said that the high court and the apex court were sought to be taken for a ride and the entire justice delivery system was sought to be put to stake, by the respondent Sukhpal, Ms Rinki, son-in-law and daughter of Bhagwan Singh and their concerned associates and the advocates, who helped them in forging and fabricating the documents to be filed in the high court and Supreme Court, and to pursue the false proceedings filed in the name of Bhagwan Singh without his knowledge, consent or authority.
The bench noted that Sukhpal, his wife Rinki with the able assistance of a battery of lawyers in the Supreme Court and the high court, and many other unknown persons had made brazen attempts to falsely implicate Ajay Katara by filing false proceedings in the name of Bhagwan Singh, by filing false and fabricated documents. Bhagwan Singh, who is the father of the alleged rape victim, claimed he never met his daughter since she eloped with Sukhpal in 2013. The bench had fixed the matter for consideration of the CBI report on November 25.
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