Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday convicted senior advocates R K Anand and I U Khan in the BMW expose case for obstructing administration of justice after a sting operation by a television channel had alleged collusion between the prosecution and the defence in the high-profile BMW hit-and-run case.
A Division Bench headed by Justices Manmohan Sarin and Madan B Lokur debarred Anand and Khan from appearing in court for next four months.
"They are senior advocates and they did not tender either a conditional or an unconditional apology for their conduct in the BMW case," the Division Bench judges said in their 112-page verdict in the contempt case relating to the expose.
The court recommended that the convicted lawyers be stripped of their designation as senior advocates.
The Bench also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on each of them and rapped them for their "irresponsible" behaviour, saying "we are not dealing with young lawyers. Both are seasoned lawyers and such conduct was not expected of them."
However, they both have the option of appealing in the Supreme Court over the High Court verdict.
Meanwhile, the Bar Council will decide whether the two lawyers should be banned from practicing anywhere in the country.
As per the bar council rules, Section 35 of the Advocates Act can be revoked, under which the license of the offending lawyer(s) can be suspended or even cancelled if found guilty.
The Delhi Bar Council had set up a three-member fact finding team last year to investigate the alleged nexus between the prosecution and the defense.
However, for the moment it seems as if the Bar Council is firmly standing behind the two lawyers.
Delhi Bar Council president K K Manan said, "We have not barred R K Anand and I U Khan from practising. The Delhi High Court order had exceeded its limits."
Meanwhile, senior advocate KTS Tulsi told CNN-IBN that the sentence was much lighter than expected.
"The sentence is perhaps disproportianate because even for lesser misconduct. People have been sent to jail for varying sentences. So in one way the sentence is much lighter. The last word has not been said yet on the quantum of sentences yet because of the strong language employed by the court in convicting and upholding the truthfulness of the team. On the other hand, the order of suspension is controversial, since the power to suspend lawyers rests with the Bar Council," he said.
The two criminal lawyers were caught on tape by a television channel in May 2007, striking a deal with the main witness in the BMW case, Sunil Kulkarni.
The tape showed the two lawyers colluding to strike a deal with Kulkarni. They wanted to pay him a hefty amount of money for refusing to identify the prime accused in the hit-and-run case, Sanjeev Nanda.
According to the tape, Kulkarni asked for Rs 2.5 crore for changing his stand. When the advocates said that this was too much, he told them to get prepared to send their rich and powerful client to jail for ten years.
I U Khan was subsequently dropped as Special Public Prosecutor.
The accused lawyers had defended themselves alleging conspiracy hatched by the television channel to malign them.
Sanjeev Nanda, grandson of former Navy Chief S M Nanda, is the prime accused in the infamous BMW hit-and-run case in which Nanda's car had mowed down six people over nine years ago, on January 10, 1999.
(With inputs from agencies)
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