By IANS,
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday issued notice to noted criminal lawyer and former MP R.K. Anand, asking him why he should not be given more punishment, including jail sentence, for committing contempt of court by trying to derail the criminal justice system.
A bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal issued notice to Anand and endorsed his conviction by the Delhi High Court for committing the contempt by trying to collude with special public prosecutor I.U. Khan to save his client. Former navy chief Admiral S.M. Nanda’s grandson Sanjeev Nanda, for whom Anand was counsel, was facing the trial for mowing down six people under the wheels of his car.
The bench, which also included Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Aftab Alam, however, absolved Khan of the contempt charges after mildly censuring his conduct as a public prosecutor.
It approved of the bonafide intention of the television news channel NDTV for carrying out a sting operation and exposing the two lawyers’ conducts, which revealed a rot in the criminal justice system.
“The appeal of R.K. Anand is dismissed subject to the notice of enhancement of punishment issued to him. He is allowed eight weeks’ time from the date of service of notice for filing his show-cause reply,” ruled the bench.
The high court had convicted both Anand and Khan in August 2008 on contempt charges for colluding to shield an accused facing the criminal trial and thus interfering with the judicial process and administration of justice.
While convicting the two lawyers, the high court had banned them from practicing before it and its subordinate courts in Delhi for four months and had also divested them of their robes of senior lawyers. It had also imposed a fine of Rs.2,000 on each of them.
While dismissing Anand’s appeal and issuing notice to him to enhance his punishment, the Supreme Court bench allowed Khan’s appeal against the high court verdict. It said: “The appeal filed by I.U. Khan is allowed and his conviction for criminal contempt is set aside.”
“The period of four month’s prohibition from appearing in the Delhi High Court and the courts subordinate to it is already over. The punishment of fine given to him by the high court is set aside. The full bench of the high court may still consider whether to continue the honour of Senior Advocate conferred on him in light of the findings recorded in this judgment,” the bench ruled.
What angered the bench to the extent of considering enhanced punishment for Anand was the fact that during his trial at the high court, he had gone to the extent of hurling reckless allegations against one of the judges, Justice Manmohan Sarin, and demanding that he abandon the hearing.
The apex court bench noted: “Anand’s action in trying to suborn the court witness in a criminal trial was reprehensible enough but his conduct before the high court aggravates the matter manifold.”
“He does not show any remorse for his gross misdemeanour and instead tries to take on the high court by defying its authority. We are in agreement that the punishment given to him by the high court was wholly inadequate and incommensurate to the seriousness of his actions and conduct. We, accordingly, propose to issue a notice to him for enhancement of punishment,” the bench said.
“We also hold that by his actions and conduct Anand has established himself as a person who needs to be kept away from the portals of the court for a longer time. The notice would, therefore, require him to show-cause why the punishment awarded to him should not be enhanced as provided under section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act. He would additionally show-cause why he should not be debarred from appearing in courts for a longer period,” the bench said.
Section 12 of the Contempt of Court Acts 1971 envisages punishments in terms both the jail term and monetary fine.
“The second part of the notice would also cure the defect in the high court order in debarring the appellant from appearing in courts without giving any specific notice in that regard as held in the earlier part of the judgment,” the bench ruled.