Read Time: 05 minutes
The PIL stated that the CM has given a statement that lowers the reputation of the lawyers along with the judges
The Rajasthan High Court on Saturday issued notice to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on a PIL seeking suo moto criminal contempt proceedings against him for his remarks alleging ‘corruption in the Judiciary’.
A division bench of Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava issued the notice to Gehlot and directed him to respond to the PIL within three weeks.
“The contents of the statement, if made by the respondent, prima facie make out a case that it tends to scandalize the Courts because it does not refer to any particular case or category of cases, but general in nature against the judiciary as a whole”, the bench observed.
“In view of above consideration, we are inclined to seek response of the respondent with regard to the statement which are attributed to him in this petition on the basis of the newspaper report”, the court said.
Earlier, this week, Gehlot had said that it had come to his knowledge that lawyers wrote judgments and took them to the judges, who then pronounced them without any alteration.
He had also said the situation was very serious in both the lower and higher judiciary. However, later he clarified that whatever he had stated was not his personal opinion, reiterating his belief in and respect for the judiciary.
The present PIL was filed before the High Court by Advocate Shiv Charan Gupta, who contended that Gehlot had “scandalised and lowered the authority of courts” by his remarks carried in the Danik Bhaskar, Jaipur newspaper on August 31. He alleged that Gehlot has scathing attack on the entire judicial system without reference to any particular case or class of cases.
The petitioner sought cognisance of Gehlot’s statement under Article 215 of the Constitution.
Notably, on 30th August, speaking to the media in Jaipur, Gehlot had said "Aaj jo bataiye itna corruption ho raha hai judiciary ke andar. Itna bhayankar corruption hai, kayi wakil log toh, maine suna hai, likh ke le jaate hain judgment, aur judgment wahi aata hai. Chahe lower ho ya upper, halat bade gambhir hain. Ye deshwasiyon ko sochna chahiye" [Today, the corruption taking place within the judiciary is frightful. I have heard that a lot of lawyers write judgments and take them along and the same judgments are pronounced. Be it lower or upper judiciary, the situation is serious. The countrymen should think about it]
Case Title: Shiv Charan Gupta v. Ashok Gehlot
Please Login or Register
