Allahabad HC deprecates AG Raghvendra Singh’s “utter disregard and disrespect to the Court”

Expressing severe displeasure at the Advocate General Raghvendra Singh’s absence from the court despite being called multiple times, a Division Bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Rekha Dikshit has asked the Chief Minister to look into the matter..The Bench also directed the State’s Chief Secretary to appear before it in person on the next date of hearing and file an affidavit stating what steps were being taken in the matters that it was hearing..The Court was hearing a series of cases where citizens of the state who were victims of heinous crimes had drawn the court’s attention to the fact that no action was being taken against the perpetrators of such offences. They had alleged that the investigation was tardy or non-existent, or the police were not acting because of political influence despite there being concrete evidence..The Bench was repeatedly seeking the Advocate General’s assistance so that it could deliver justice in these matters. These cases shake the basic structure of ‘rule of law’ in the State, the Court said, and repeatedly requested the Advocate General to appear before it..However, the Additional Advocate Generals Smiriti Sahai and R.K. Dwivedi informed the Court that the Advocate General was yet to arrive from his residence in Lucknow, and then that he was busy in meetings..“Sri R.K. Dwivedi, learned A.G.A. for the State on query being made from him as to why the learned Advocate General has yet not appeared before the Court though message was conveyed to him by Ms. Smiriti Sahai, learned A.G.A. for the State, who is present in the Court, it was informed by him that learned Advocate General is busy in a meeting..It was a little bit disturbing for us to note about the said fact that during the Court hours when the assistance of learned Advocate General is required, he is busy in a meeting….”.This conduct of the Advocate General drew the bench’s ire. It held in its order that the Advocate General’s not responding to the court’s repeated requests “amounts to utter disregard and disrespect to the Court and has set a bad example to the learned State Counsel as well as learned members of the Bar who are present in the Court as also before the whole legal fraternity.”.Terming that the Advocate General’s attitude and conduct smacked of disrespect and contempt of the court, the bench said that it wished to issue a notice of contempt to him, but was restraining itself from doing so..“The attitude and conduct of the learned Advocate General in not appearing before the Court amounts to contempt of the Court in spite of repeated calls sent to him through learned A.G.A. Ms. Smiriti Sahai and Sri R.K. Dwivedi present in this Court on duty for seeking his assistance in the above matters which are serious in nature and concern public at large in the State, who are sufferers of heinous crime committed against them…...Looking to such demeanor and gesture of the learned Advocate General we desired to call upon him by issuing notice to him for his contemptuous conduct and disrespect shown to the Court but restrain ourselves from doing so..”.Instead, it hoped that by referring the matters to the Chief Minister, the citizens would have some redress in the numerous grievances that they had..“…[we] think it more appropriate to refer the matter to Hon’ble The Chief Minister of the State of U.P. to look into it at his end with a hope and trust that the Hon’ble The Chief Minister would respond to the issues being the Head of the State as the citizens of the State expect however, the good and honest the intention of the State may be to work for the welfare of its people but all its efforts go in vain if it cannot deliver and serve its citizens effectively within time through its State machinery securing and protecting their life, liberty and property through proper and effective administration.”.The bench thereafter directed the matters to be listed on August 3..Read the order below.