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Synopsis

A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Amit Sharma of the Delhi High Court, on Thursday, recused from hearing the criminal contempt petition filed by the former District and Sessions Judge Sujata Kholi against former Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) Secretary Rajiv Khosla.

During the hearing, the bench was examining the video conference clippings of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court, Tis Hazari, wherein the alleged incident of two district judges joined the CMM’s Dias during Rajiv Khosla’s sentencing.

While examining the court noted that the clippings did not have clear audio, and accordingly, asked Kholi to submit the clippings on another day.

Sujata Kholi, appearing in person requested the court to hear her written submission and issue a notice in the matter as it had already been a year now, otherwise, she asked the bench to recuse from hearing the matter.

To, this the bench stated that they could not issue a notice, without examining the clippings. Accordingly, the court ordered, “At the request of Ms. Kholi, we consider it appropriate to recuse from hearing the proceeding in order to avoid any potential allegation of bias.” The division bench directed the matter to be listed before another bench.

On April 7, 2022, the division bench directed Kholi to place on record the Video Conference/Hybrid Proceedings of the Court of CMM (Central), Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi, held on November 27 and 30, 2021, as well as CCTV footage of even dates in relation to Court Room No. 38, Tis Hazari Courts, both inside and outside the Court Room.

The division bench had noted that the Principal District and Sessions Judge Headquarters had also submitted the aforementioned proceedings in a sealed cover along with the annexures.

Last year, a Delhi Court convicted Rajiv Khosla for the assault of Sujata Kholi, who was a lawyer at the Tis Hazari Court in the 1990s.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM), Central District, Tis Hazari Court, Gajender Singh Nagar held Khosla guilty of offences punishable under IPC Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506(i) (criminal intimidation).

Case Title: Sujata Kholi vs. Rajiv Khosla