Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi issued the order to dismiss two officials on Wednesday who were responsible for taking down the judge’s orders and getting them uploaded on the website.
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court sacked two of its assistant registrars after an inquiry found that they were tampering with a court order which appeared favourable to Reliance Communication chairperson Anil Ambani in a contempt case.
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi issued the order to dismiss the two officials who were responsible for taking down the judge’s orders and getting them uploaded on the website.
The CJI acted on a complaint by Justice Rohinton F Nariman, who has been hearing the contempt case. He used his powers under Article 311 of the Constitution and Section 11(13) of the Supreme Court which empowers the CJI to dismiss any employee under “extraordinary” circumstances without resorting to normal disciplinary proceedings, News18 reported.
Besides the sacking, SC reserved judgement on the contempt petition against Reliance Communications and its chairman Anil Ambani, over the telecom operator’s failure to comply with its assurance in court to clear Rs. 550 crore of arrears to Ericsson, a Swedish equipment supplier.
“What prompted the extraordinary step from the CJI was an instance of tampering with Justice Nariman’s order in January when a show-cause notice of contempt was issued to Anil Ambani over alleged failure to clear outstanding dues to Ericsson India despite categorical undertakings to the top court. The order that was uploaded on the Supreme Court website on January 7 said the “personal appearance of the alleged contemnor(s) is dispensed with,” the report said.
“This connoted that Ambani’s presence was not required on the next date of hearing although the rule is that anybody who is issued a contempt notice must show up once and request for exemption of his personal appearance on future dates. The order propitious to Ambani was uploaded on the website even though Justice Nariman had hours before made it clear that Ambani’s personal appearance was not dispensed with,” the report added.
It added that the discrepancy led senior advocate Dushyant Dave and other Ericsson representatives move Justice Nariman’s court again, pointing this out. Justice Nariman, expressing shock, got the correct order uploaded on the website on January 10. “Personal appearance of the alleged contemnor(s) is not dispensed with,” the revised order said.
“Justice Nariman also preferred an inquiry against the court officials, which suggested deliberate tampering after scrutiny by the CJI. Subsequently, court masters, Manav Sharma and Tapan Kumar Chakraborty, who held the rank of assistant registrars, were sacked on Wednesday evening. Ambani, in terms of the revised order, remained present in the court on February 12 and on February 13 in connection with the contempt proceedings. He spent over two hours in the court on Tuesday and almost the whole day on Wednesday when the judgment was reserved by Justice Nariman’s bench,” the report added.
Towards the end of the proceeding, Justice Nariman told senior lawyers Mukul Rohatgi and Kapil Sibal, appearing for Ambani that consequences for what they did will follow.