Caption: High Court strict on attempts to change court due to base allegations (Jagran)
State Bureau, Chandigarh. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has strongly attacked the trend of transferring cases from one court to another by making baseless allegations against the judges and lawyers of the opposing side. The court clarified that “imaginary or fabricated apprehension” arising in the mind of any party cannot be the basis for transferring the trial to another court. Such efforts strike at the very roots of the justice delivery system and if taken lightly would lead to “anarchy in the judicial process”.
This important comment was made by Justice Sumit Goel while rejecting the demand for transfer of a criminal defamation case from the Judicial Magistrate Court of Panchkula. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on petitioner Dinesh Chand Bansal and termed the allegations as “baseless and irresponsible”.
The court said that it is the duty of any presiding officer or trial judge to discharge his responsibilities without coming under pressure. It would be contrary to judicial duty to recuse himself from the case by showing undue sensitivity towards the allegations leveled against him. The Court also observed that judicial officers often work under extreme pressure and stressful environment, where they may occasionally commit errors, which can be remedied by statutory remedies available in law and not by baseless allegations.
what is the whole matter
Petitioner Dinesh Chand Bansal had challenged the order of the Sessions Court in the High Court, in which his demand to transfer the case from Panchkula court was rejected. This case pertains to criminal defamation registered under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code.
This private complaint was filed in 2019 by Tarsem Kumar Ruby, a businessman in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors and former District Governor of Rotary International. The complaint alleges that after she lost the nomination for a Rotary post, Bansal conducted a sustained defamatory campaign against her, spreading misleading messages among Rotary members, causing serious damage to her reputation.
Transfer arguments and court's response
Bansal, who is in his eighties, had sought trial transfer citing his age, poor health, remoteness of Panchkula and bias on the part of the magistrate. He even said that the magistrate is in collusion with the complainant and he is being harassed in the court.
The High Court described all these allegations as based on conjecture and speculation and said that mere adverse judicial order does not prove bias. The Court warned that filing transfer petitions merely for the purpose of changing the forum is a growing trend, which needs to be stopped.
The court avoided harsh punishment in view of the advanced age of the petitioner, but directed that out of the fine of Rs 50,000 imposed, half the amount should be deposited with the Haryana State Legal Services Authority and the remaining half should be given to the lawyer of the complainant. Also, the trial court was instructed to complete the hearing of the case expeditiously without being influenced by the comments of the High Court.
Chyawanprash is a part of every Indian's life, it reduces diseases and increases energy.