SEBI Sahara: CJI Thakur fumes as Rajeev Dhavan loses cool again, Sibal salvages ship for Roy

In what was reminiscent of the hearing two years back, the Supreme Court today witnessed yet another episode of Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhavan’s temperamental outburst at the Bench which proved to be near detrimental for Sahara Chief Subrata Roy..An upset Chief Justice TS Thakur cancelled Roy’s parole and it finally took a herculean effort by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal to pacify the Chief Justice..Sibal, who is not keeping well, was rushed in to court to tender an apology on behalf of Roy. The Court seems to have accepted the apology as it extended Roy’s parole by a week..Morning hearing: Rajeev Dhavan loses his cool .When the matter came up for hearing today before the Special Bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur, Anil R Dave and AK Sikri, JJ., SEBI submitted that Sahara’s properties earmarked for auction to realise money, had already been attached by the Income Tax Department. This irked the Bench which asked Sahara to deposit Rs. 300 crore..Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Roy, objected to this when the Bench remarked in a nonchalant fashion that “they would cancel the parole and send Roy back to jail”..Dhavan took strong offence to the statement labelling it “extremely unfair”..On repeating the same multiple times, the Bench finally decided to cancel the parole. To this Dhavan stated,.“Your Lordships have made the order in anger…it is not fair.”.The Bench chose not to respond further and simply rose..“Will consider withdrawing senior designation of such lawyers”, Justice Thakur.Immediately afterwards, Sahara apologised to Chief Justice Thakur through another lawyer. Sahara said that Dhavan had gone beyond his brief while making his submissions and made unwarranted remarks..According to ToI reporter, Dhananjay Mahapatra, the Chief Justice remarked that it will seriously consider withdrawing senior designation of such lawyers who are discourteous in court..Sibal to the rescue?.After the drama in the morning, news began pouring in that Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal would be roped in by Sahara for a special mentioning to deal with the unforeseen situation. The news turned out to be correct as Sibal, who is not keeping well, trudged in before 1 pm and occupied a seat in the Chief Justice court..The Bench had by then changed but Sibal proceeded to mention the matter before Chief Justice just as the Bench was rising..“What can I say to Your Lordships. I have no words. I really apologise. Some statement by the gentleman…”, said Sibal..Chief Justice Thakur responded by saying that the Bench had, in fact, been ready to allow an adjournment when it changed its mind due to Dhavan’s conduct..“It is very painful for us. One may be very eloquent and scholarly but …..there is a threshold to our tolerance”, said Justice Thakur..“It will not happen again. It is my word”, assured Sibal..The Chief Justice then said that he will discuss with his brother judges and consider the plea made by Subrata Roy. It is understood that the court has now extended Roy’s parole by another week and will hear him again on September 28..Dhavan’s response.Dhavan is not one who will take anything lying down. He has already responded to the CJI’s remarks about him. In a note purportedly written by him, which is being circulated on social media, Dhavan has stated the following:.“It is most unfortunate that Chief Justice of India made uncharitable comments about me as a lawyer and my conduct in court behind my back”..In the said note, Dhavan has maintained that the order passed against Roy was “passed in temper”.“The Chief Justice lost his temper and passed an order ordering my client back to jail. I remonstrated that he passed the order in a temper and this was not fair..Orders passed in temper, especially when all conditions are fulfilled is both inappropriate and unbecoming.”.Stating that it is the duty of the lawyer to tell the judge when there is a failure of justice, Dhavan concludes by stating that,.“people in high places have enormous powers and duty to use it wisely”..Image Courtesy:.Justice TS Thakur.Rajeev Dhavan