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Manoj Oswal (none)     23 June 2011

Complaint against District Judge for open;y siding one party

Hi There,

An old lady named Sunita who is a friend of mine has become senile and is completely unaware of what she signs on. A civil case was filed by a Trustee of a private trust created by her father 30 yers  to protect certain property of that lady. The opponents in this case were none other than the borther of Sharad Pawar, Pratap G Pawar. Sunita's lawyer has become a pawn in hands of opposition and doing as per the convinience of the opposition.  

It came to my notice that her affidavits and written say supposedly by this lady to dismiss the suit as she did not like this Trustee. I therefore made an application to the courtwith medial certificate and other evidences about her mental capacity. I urged the court to examine this lady for her mental capacity and if she was incapable, I be appointed as a guardian ad litem. The advocate of Sunita produced a letter written by Sunita that she is well capable and I have adverse interest to her and she does not need a guardian. I insisted that if my interest is adverse anyone else may be her guardian.

The court dismissed my application on basis of the letter, it also ruled that the lady is fit as she as written the letter herself. I immedeatly approached the High Court for relief but by the time the case could be heard the High court was due for vacation and so matter was kept after vacation.

In the meantime The District Judge decided to continue the case even during vacation. The court changed its mind and decided to examine the lady Sunita.  The court summoned the lady in court, when she did not turn up thrice, the court decided to visit her residence.

The court went to her home and posed around 13 questions, the plantiff's lawyer posed 3-4 questions and 3-4 questions were posed by Sunita's own lawyer who was with Lila before the proceedings started. Sunita could not answer any of the questions posed by the District Court or the Plantiff's lawyer... her standard answer was "i don't know" "I do not remember" "I will have to study". She gave a few 4-5 words answer to the questions posed by her lawyer. 

It is also notable that during the question answers the respondent no.9 was unable to answer the key questions and indicated clearly that she was completely alien the proceedings, written says, plaintiffs, defendants and even could not tell who her lawyer was. She was unable to state who her family doctor was, whether any doctor was treating her, why she could not attend the court, whether she goes to the hospital or not, she was aware if any case has been filed, was unaware of the property in the case, whether she was shareholder of the company in question and if she knew who the trustees of her trust were . The learned District Court in its order mentions that the respondent no.9 stated that the response to the question whether she is director of the company was “affirmative” while as per the records of the court the answers were “I don’t know / I am not”. In striking contrast to the responses before the Hon’ble court, the written says by her are completely detailed and of a kind that could have not been instructed by a person with Dementia that is so severe.

So of 24 odd questions she could answer only 3-4 questions posed by her lawyer and those answers were also not fully coherent, they were somewhat close to an answer. The court did not consider any medical opinion.

 The court later thought it fit to decide that the lady sunita was mentally fit and capable of fighting her case and so she can fight her case through her lawyer.

I have already filed my appeal in the High Court and I shall continue my battle in the High Court. My bigger concern is the conduct of the Judge in the matter. As this court is also hearing the multi-crore Telgi fake Stamps case and a series of anti-corruption cases it is a matter of grave concern for me.  The accused in all these cases are high profile police officers who have no ethics what so ever.

Would it be appropriate for me to write to the High Court Chief Justice with a complaint regarding conduct of this Judge? Can this affect my other appeal in the case? Can this invite contempt of court against me?



Learning

 12 Replies

Ambika Prasad Mishra (Lawyer)     23 June 2011

From the fats naratted above it does not appear me that the learned judge is not functioning independently. I would suggest you just one thing that you can use the answers given by Sunita in your appeal/writ petition filed before the High Court to convince the court that Sunita is of unsoundmind. Making allegations against judges without any strong basis would be fatal to your case.

1 Like

Manoj Oswal (none)     24 June 2011

I want you to consider the following facts.

1. The lady is unmarried and has no relatives.

2. This lady was fighting the opponents .. the pawars for 25 years till she became senile. 

3. etailed 5-6 page affidavits and several says were filed supposedly by this lady. The says were entirely against her interest and in favour of the people whom she opposed all her life.

4. She had mentioned in a detailed written say that she does not have dementia or any such mental diseases and denied the fact that she is forgetful to any extent.

She could not answer a single question that was relevant to the case and in some cases the court took exact opposite of what was on records. She first refused to aknowledge if she was indeed a director and shareholder of the company she supposedly filed a suit in. Later she said, I don't know.

When asked about the litigations filed by her and against her, she said she does not know about any of them. She did not know the subject of the litigation in the current suit, even when hinted that the present suit was in relation to her shares in the said company, she refused to aknowledge that she had any shares or was a director of the company. It was in her written say that she was herself instructing her lawyer. 

If you look at her responses, she could not even name the lawyer who reprsented her in the suit.

In short there was a complete disconnect between her written says, affidavits and her mental capabilities as exposed during questions and answers. Isn't it essential that the person who is a party to the suitat least  knows the subject matter of the suit, the parties in the suit and being aware of the fact that the property in the suit belongs to her. If the person is unaware of these facts, can he/she give instructions to the lawyer?

Should this not be a clear indicator of the fact that she was not senile and it was very obious that she was not capable of giving instructions in the case. Under such circumstances was the hon'ble court not bound to get her medically examined or declare her incapable of protecting her property.

MO 

 

 


Manoj Oswal (none)     24 June 2011

What would be a strong basis to make allegations?


(Guest)

@ Manoj Oswal: to quote from your post
"The learned District Court in its order mentions that the respondent no.9 stated that the response to the question whether she is director of the company was “affirmative” while as per the records of the court the answers were “I don’t know / I am not”.

 

I am not a legal expert but these discrepancies are strong evidence in your favour. Don't you have access to the court records? If not you could get via RTI Appeal. Also, one can ask for 'grounds' for a judgment/ decision via RTI Act.


(Guest)

w.r.t. above, you can ask for 'grounds' for concluding that her answer was 'affirmative' when her statement was “I don’t know / I am not”. 

What a corrupt judiciary we have. vultures preying on an aged helpless woman.


(Guest)

"Under such circumstances was the hon'ble court not bound to get her medically examined or declare her incapable of protecting her property."
Maybe you can get such an examination done. Please check about how this must be done to ensure its validity.
Again I repeat I'm not a legal or medical expert, I'm just shocked by all this.

Ambika Prasad Mishra (Lawyer)     25 June 2011

Yes Mr Oswal. You have got a very good case. If you feel that you are not able to get Justice in the said Court, then make a prayer before the High Court to get the case transferred to another Court.

1 Like

Manoj Oswal (none)     25 June 2011

my question is not about my case. I have already appealed. I am sure that the High Court will give justice.

My worry is the fact that the same court is also handling some of the case of the most sensitive cases. It is hearing the Telgi case which involves several hundred crore and has top police officers and ministers among the accused. The court also handles all CBI special cases and cases filed by Anti-corruption Beareau.

Would it be justifiable to write a letter to the Chief Justic of High Court ? In other cases the influence may not be so obvious. So many people risk their lives to expose corruption, expose scams and justice may never be delivered. the case may be decided on factors other than the merit of the case.

 

MO 


(Guest)

@Manoj Oswal, it seems  you are deterred by the level of involvement/ commitment of time and money it will take for you to go to high court? I might have misunderstood but sadly...there doesn't seem to be an easy way to rectify this situation. You're right that corruption is so insidious, the path of truth is made very hard and we start to doubt ourselves as to why we got into an avoidable battle with no personal gain.

Manoj Oswal (none)     25 June 2011

I have already apealed in the high court. the issue is what about the many other corruption cases?  I am looking to know if I can bring this to the notice of the HC so that it can also find the truth about the judgements by this judge on other cases and remove him from sensitive cases.

Ambika Prasad Mishra (Lawyer)     30 June 2011

BETTER U CONSULT A GOOD LAWYER OVER THERE..... But I would always advice u that If u feel that u wont get justice in that court then apply to the High Court to get ur case transferred to another court... If the high court finds ur concerns to be genuine ones then the case will be transferred to other courts......

Manoj Oswal (none)     30 June 2011

My question is not about my own case, which will be decided on merits. The issue is about the possible wrongdoings of this particular judge in other matters of national interest.

Would it harm my case If I write a letter to the CJ of Bombay High Court with regards to this attitude that would tarnish the image of Judidicary.

 

MO


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