'Scurrilous and malicious attempt', BCI slams letter against Justice DY Chandrachud

New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS) The Bar Council of India (BCI) has slammed a letter levelling allegation against sitting Supreme Court judge Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, saying some people with vested interests have made a scurrilous and malicious attempt to interfere with the functioning of judiciary and the administration of justice.

In a press release, the BCI said: "One Mr. R. K. Pathan claiming to be the President of some so called 'Supreme Court and High Court Litigant Association' is stated to have lodged a complaint against the senior-most Judge of Supreme Court, Justice D. Y. Chandrachud. Such post and letter of Mr. R. K. Pathan is being made viral by a few people (in which, we know that 2-3 Advocates of Mumbai are also there) deliberately on the eve of justice Chandrachud's elevation as the Chief Justice of India".

The BCI said it has thoroughly examined the contents of this 165- pages long letter and it finds that it is nothing but a scurrilous and malicious attempt to interfere with the functioning of Judiciary and the administration of Justice.

The BCI said the timing of the complaint clearly exposes the malicious purpose behind this fake and bogus complaint. "The people of the country are prudent enough to understand the truth and the reason behind such post at this moment. People can easily realise as to why this man was sleeping for such a long period. Obviously, he was waiting for the letter of Union Minister of Law and Justice asking for the name of the successor of Chief Justice of India," added the BCI, on the complaint which had gone viral online.

The BCI said such growing tendency is really a matter of serious concern for the country and it has to be checked anyhow. "Bar Council of India has meticulously examined the complaint. The contents of the complaint itself expose the frivolity of the allegations and the malicious purpose and intent behind it," said the BCI's statement.

The BCI said it has been informed that Pathan and two other advocates were also held guilty for contempt and all the three were sentenced to three months simple imprisonment by the Supreme Court. "As per the information given by some senior members and office-bearers of State Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, this is not the only instance; even earlier, Rashid Khan Pathan had made scurrilous and scandalous allegations against a sitting Judge of the Bombay High Court. A show cause notice was issued by the Bombay High Court, observing that the statements made were an attempt to scandalize the court and a calculated attempt to interfere with the administration of justice,", it added.

The BCI said anyone can easily smell Pathan is not representing any "association of litigants", rather it is his small group of handful of lawyers of Mumbai, who are in the habit of adopting such evil designs. "These people have not even spared the son of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. It is really very shocking. This long letter is nothing, but a device to gain cheap popularity. This man has also defamed the litigants-mass of our country. This is also very sad. Such persons deserve strong penal and disciplinary action. The citations have nothing to do with the contents of the letter," it added.

It further added, "Bar Council of India requests the dignitaries to whom this scandalous letter is addressed and also to the Hon'ble Members of the Bar as well as the prudent citizen of our country to ignore such baseless posts and discourage such anti-Institutional people who are indulged in maligning the judiciary and have been continuously attempting to weaken the Supreme Court."