LAWYERS AS LAWBREAKERS
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BMW case: Top lawyers banned from Delhi courts
Published on Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 21:02, Updated on Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 00:07 in India section
Tags: BMW Case, Hit-and-Run , New Delhi
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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday held two of the country's top criminal lawyers, R K Anand and I U Khan, held guilty of colluding with a witness in the high profile BMW hit-and-run case. The decision is being seen as the one of the rarest verdicts ever.
The senior advocates, have been debarred from appearing in the High Court and Subordinate courts for four months as punishment. The decision has evoked mixed reactions from the legal fraternity.
Khan and Anand are among the best criminal lawyers of the country, who have put others in the dock all their life. But now life has come full circle as the Delhi High Court has convicted them for contempt of court in the BMW sting case.
The order came after a sting operation established that then public prosecutor Khan and defence lawyer Anand colluded to buy over witness Sunil Kulkarni and sabotage the case against the accused, Sanjeev Nanda.
The court in its order said, "There is no doubt that there was complicity between Khan and Anand and that Kulkarni was aware of it. We are left with no doubt that Anand was a key player in interfearing and obstructing the course of justice."
The High Court has not only barred the two from practicing law in the Delhi courts for the next four months, but has also recommended that they be stripped of their designation of senior advocates.
It's a punishment which has drawn sharp reactions from the Bar associations.
"It's an illegal order. The court cannot bar them from practicing, as it's for the Bar council to decide that," said President, Delhi High Court Bar Association, K K Mittal.
It's a contrast, that with a section of the legal fraternity questioning the wisdom of not sending the two to prison.
"The sentence should be up to six months of imprisonment. Barring someone from practice is not the High Court's jurisdiction," said advocate K T S Tulsi.
What was so far whispered in the corridors of law is now out in the open, that even senior legal officers succumb to money power to subvert criminal justice system. And while the legal fraternity is critical of the verdict, maybe it's time to introspect and stem the rot in the system.
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