By Vineet Malik | January 19, 2022 | London, England
Parliamentary Committee in India as far back in 1964 had said, “Corruption exists in the lower ranks of the judiciary all over India and in some places, it has spread to the higher ranks.”
Anil Laxman Pansare, then Registrar (J-II) posted in India’s top court not only miserably failed to comprehend the elementary rules of law but also made an attempt to shield the alleged corrupt Metropolitan Magistrate Ankush Pundlikrao Khanorkar, 68th Court, Borivali, Mumbai in a contempt of court matter filed by one Manubhai Hargovandas Patel.
Instead of issuing dismissal order against Pansare, the Government of India in October last year, promoted him as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court (HC).
Interestingly, Pansare has been promoted and posted in the same city; Mumbai in Maharashtra where Khanorkar is a sitting Metropolitan Magistrate.
Misconduct of then Registrar posted in the Supreme Court of India
The order passed by Pansare was challenged by citing the law laid down in Jaswant Sugar Mills Ltd, Meerut Vs Lakshmichand and Ors, AIR 1963 SC 677 and followed in P. Surendra Vs State by Inspector of Police (2019) 9 SCC 154 where-in, it states, “The Registrar of the Supreme Court (SC) can not refuse to register any Petition / Application and can’t decide the maintainability of it because the maintainability of any Petition / Application can be decided only by the Court”.
It also came to light, the oblique manner in which Khanorkar alleged to have been demeaned the law of the land by ruling unlawful orders in a criminal matter pending against the Income Tax Sleuths pertaining to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, with intent to impede criminal proceedings and shield them from the clutches of law.
"In India, getting justice is a nightmare", says Patel.
In January last year, Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, Navin Sinha and Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph issued notice to Pansare and Khanorkar for committing contempt of the top court.
Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman retired in August last year.
After a gap of 11 months, two-judge bench of the SC presided by Justices Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha despite admitting the fact that Petitioner's contention is correct, dropped contempt notice issued against Pansare and Khanorkar through an unreasoned order on 2 December last year.
Unreasoned Order passed by the Supreme Court of India that shielded Registrar and Trial Court Judge
The order passed by the SC stated, "Petitioner-in Person is right in so far as the contention against the order passed by the Registrar of this Court deciding to lodge the petition but as far as the question as to whether we should proceed in the matter against the respondent for the alleged contempt, we are of the view that the further proceedings must be dropped."
Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.P Bharucha had conceded that 20 percent of Judges were corrupt and former CJI P. Sathasivam had said, "I should fairly admit that the judiciary is not untouched by corruption."
Aggrieved by injustice, Patel had filed a Miscellaneous Application in December last year, that is scheduled to be listed sometime soon in the SC.
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