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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | VIP accused wasting court’s time: SC -Dhananjay Mahapatra

VIP accused wasting court’s time: SC -Dhananjay Mahapatra

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published Published on Aug 13, 2013   modified Modified on Aug 13, 2013
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: Justice B S Chauhan of the Supreme Court on Monday said that senior advocates engaged by well-to-do accused in criminal cases were taking up most of the time of the court, leaving little time for the redressal of the grievances of commoners.

"Our entire (judicial) time is wasted by senior advocates engaged by influential accused, who think the Supreme Court is their safe haven. Ordinary citizens get no time to say their grievances," said Justice Chauhan as he along with Justice S A Bobde turned down absconding Gujarat police officer P P Pandey's plea for more time to surrender to the CBI in connection with the Ishrat Jehan "encounter" case.

The issue of whether high courts should have the final say in criminal cases has as been bothering judges of the Supreme Court, who have been exasperated by the time and energy they have to devote to voluminous petitions and appeals filed by rich and powerful accused challenging every single order of the trial court up to the highest court.

Justice Chauhan's feelings spilled over during the hearing of two criminal matters - one relating to the back-to-back anticipatory bail pleas of Gujarat police officer Pandey and that of an accused who has not turned himself in despite having granted four extensions.

"This is the way those influential accused in criminal cases treat the Supreme Court," Justice Chauhan said while dismissing an application seeking further time for the surrender by the accused who had not abided by the earlier concessional orders of the SC.

But the anticipatory bail plea of Pandey, who eluded the CBI and gave it the slip after rejection of his anticipatory bail by a Gujarat court where he reported first on a stretcher and then in a wheel-chair, irked Justice Chauhan.

Justice Chauhan had a point given the proliferation of appeals against trial court orders carried up to the Supreme Court. "I can say on oath that ordinary citizens get little of our time. It is a sorry state of affairs. We are dealing with pleas for anticipatory bails and appeals against cognizance of chargesheet and issuance of summons. These have reduced the Supreme Court to the trial court level," he said.

Appearing for Pandey, senior advocate Jaspal Singh found little favour from the bench of Justices Chauhan and Bobde, which said the court had to see the antecedents of the petitioner who was an absconder and who had absconded after rejection of his anticipatory bail by the HC.

The court rejected his anticipatory bail plea saying it agreed with the reasoning of the HC to reject the plea - his custodial interrogation could be required, he was an absconder and that there was likelihood of his tampering with evidence.

Appearing for the CBI, additional solicitor general Indira Jaising sought a direction from the court to Pandey to surrender. "After the rejection of anticipatory bail, he has absconded again. We have searched everywhere including all the hospitals but there is no trace of him," she said. But the court said it would dismiss Pandey's plea and it was for the CBI to trace him.


The Times of India, 13 August, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/VIP-accused-wasting-courts-time-SC/articleshow/21791000.cms


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