Supreme Court slaps ₹10k costs on convict who made false claim to seek early release

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed its displeasure at convicts seeking remission by resorting to dishonest pleadings [Sunil Nayak @ Fundi v State of NCT of Delhi]..A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih took note of the fact that a convict before it had not disclosed the withdrawal of his remission plea before the Delhi High Court."In the last three weeks, this is the sixth case which we have come across where absolutely false averments are made in cases of remission. We are liberal, that is why this is being done," Justice Oka lamented.The Court proceeded to dismiss the plea while imposing ₹10,000 as costs on the convict (appellant). .The Bench was hearing an appeal by a convict against a July 22 order of the Delhi High Court.In the grounds cited in the plea, the convict had stated that the High Court had arbitrarily dismissed his application for remission.However, it came to light that the High Court had not been dismissed. Rather, the convict had withdrawn his plea, the top court found. This fact was suppressed by the convict in his appeal, the Bench observed. "A copy of the impugned order shows that not only was the application of the petitioner heard but after some argument, the advocate for petitioner withdrew the petition. This petition shows completely misleading facts. This has been suppressed," the Supreme Court noted. It, therefore, declined to entertain the plea and imposed costs. The Bench directed that the convict deposit the costs with the Delhi State Legal Services Authority..Can't CM Arvind Kejriwal sign remission files from jail? Supreme Court asks