Supreme Court rejects plea by SCBA, SCAORA against CBI probe into fake SLP

The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear that lawyers engaging in fraudulent practices will face strict action from Court [Bhagwan Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another]

The Court made the observation while turning down the pleas filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) to modify the Court's earlier order directing a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe after a fake appeal was filed before it.

A Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma asserted that regardless of who the individual is, they will be punished for committing fraud on the Court.

"So you mean to say that lawyers should not be prosecuted even if they commit fraud on the court. Lawyers are no different. No matter who it is, if they commit fraud on court, they will be punished," the Court said.

The Supreme Court had on September 2020 ordered the CBI to carry out an inquiry into a case where a litigant had denied filing a special leave petition (SLP) before the top court and had claimed that he never hired any of the lawyers to represent him.

More than a month after the apex court issued notice to the State of Uttar Pradesh in the SLP in question, petitioner Bhagwan Singh had written a letter to the Supreme Court Registry claiming that he had not filed any such case.

The matter led to the Bench issuing strict directions to advocates-on-record (AoRs), who now must mark the appearance of only those lawyers who are authorised to appear and argue that case on the particular day.

If there is any change in the name of the arguing advocate, it shall be duty of the concerned AoR to inform the concerned court master in advance or at the time of hearing.

During the hearing today, the Bench reviewed the CBI's report, which revealed that a regular case was registered on November 22 against ten individuals accused of misusing court proceedings.

The SCBA and the SCAORA moved a joint application seeking modification of the September 20 order, arguing that it could affect the rights of bar members.

However, the bench rejected this plea.

The Court also dismissed Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Archana Dave's suggestion that a warning might suffice.

"No warning. This statement doesn't suit on you. If any lawyer is playing fraud on the court, he or she will be punished," the Court said.

It observed that no further orders were necessary since the CBI had already taken appropriate steps. Hence, it closed the matter.

[Live Coverage]