New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) A Delhi High Court bench Thursday recused itself from hearing a petition by a retired district court judge for initiating contempt proceedings against a lawyer who allegedly interfered with the administration of justice after being convicted of assaulting the former judicial officer who was also an advocate at the time of the incident.
“At request of Ms (Sujata) Kohli, the petitioner who appears in person, in order to obviate any possibility of alleged bias, we consider it appropriate to recuse from hearing the proceedings,” said the bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Justice Amit Sharma.
The court directed that the contempt case be listed before another bench of the high court subject to the order of the Chief Justice.
On October 29 last year, a trial court had convicted Delhi High Court Bar Association’s (DHCBA) ex-President Rajiv Khosla in an assault case for offences punishable under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the India Penal Code (IPC).
Complainant Sujata Kohli had alleged that Khosla grabbed her by her hair and dragged her in August 1994.
Kohli, who was a lawyer at Tis Hazari court at the time of the incident of assault, went on to become a judge in the Delhi judiciary and retired as a District and Sessions Judge in 2020.
In her petition before the high court, she has claimed the trial court proceedings on the issue of sentencing were “literally hijacked” and “obstructed” by Khosla and his supporters.
She has alleged that after his conviction, Khosla even made an “appeal to the Bar bodies to join him” and they sided with him while deciding to go on a strike. She has also claimed Khosla’s conduct was objectionable inside the courtroom.
“The convict/respondent (Khosla) has, by publication of material on social groups etc, collected mob support to strike work to boycott the concerned court and to be physically present with huge numbers of lawyers / leaders in the courtroom, shouting slogans standing on chairs, calling the particular judge on his face as ‘biased’ and calling ’95 per cent of judges as being corrupt’,” the petitioner has said.
“The petitioner/complainant/victim by the present petition seeks initiation of contempt proceedings against the convict/respondent, who by a series of acts and words has directly interfered with administration/dispensation of justice, has interfered with the due process of law, has scandalised the court on its face, leaving the court totally helpless (and) desperate,” it has added. Earlier this year, the court had directed the District Judge (Headquarters) to file a report and also called for the entire trial court record including the recording of the hybrid hearings held on November 27 and 30, 2021 as well as the CCTV footage of those dates of both inside and outside court room no. 38 of Tis Hazari Court.
Chaos had erupted in a courtroom in Delhi’s Tis Hazari court on November 30 last year with lawyers chanting slogans and standing atop tables and chairs as they awaited the pronouncement of order on sentencing in the assault case.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gajender Singh Nagar had directed Khosla to pay a total compensation of Rs 40,000 to the state and the victim in the case. PTI ADS SK SK
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