Mathews J Nedumpara
26th Sept.26
98205 35428

Justice Sharma ought not to have heard the CEC’s daughter’s case, since his son is an advocate for the Election Commission.

It is not that I am mortally fearful of contempt of court. In all humility, I would like to say I was the first person to lodge a complaint against K. G. Balakrishnan for corruption even without a veil. We filed a petition under Article 226 in Delhi HC seeking registration of an FIR in the Kalikho Pul suicide note case. We were threatened with contempt and were imposed a cost of 25,000 each on the petitioners, eleven ordinary lawyers. We moved 4 times seeking registration of an FIR against Justice Yashwant Varma.
When I tweeted yesterday, I was 💯 certain that the allegations against Justice S. C. Sharma, a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, are true. But the law of contempt of court by scandalisation, which became obsolete in England even in the 19th century, is indiscriminately used by our judges to silence dissent. We don’t have the media support which Prashant Bhushan and his ilk enjoy. They are a white-collar mafia using PILs as a means for political mileage and other vested interests.
In 2010, I wrote a confidential letter to the Chief Justice of India and other constitutional functionaries seeking a discreet investigation of a man who is widely known to be a fixer whom I had seen many times loitering around the office of Justice Mohit Shah, then Chief Justice. What Mohit Shah did in revenge, you will find difficult to believe.
I questioned Fali Nariman, who preaches great virtues practicing in the Supreme Court where his son is a judge. The Delhi High Court dismissed our petition challenging the explanation to Rule 6 of the Bar Council Rules, which renders redundant the very Rule 6 itself, which bars a lawyer from practicing in a court where his immediate relative is a judge. That judgment was delivered on the 5th of March 2019. On the 12th, Justice Nariman convicted me for contempt of court for “taking Fali Nariman’s name without a reason”. All that I wanted to say was even Fali Nariman supports the proposition that in the matter of seniority, what matters is the seniority from the date of enrollment and nothing else. I was convicted for contempt of court, sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, and barred from practicing in the Supreme Court for one year.
Discretion is the better part of valour. Therefore, in my tweet against Justice S. C. Sharma, I was a bit over-cautious. He is a sitting judge of the Supreme Court. Let me not mince words. From my own experience, I can say he is one of the most unfair judges I have seen in my 42 years as a lawyer and 5 years prior to that as a party-in-person. Justice Sharma’s son is a lawyer on the Panel of the Election Commission. Justice SC Sharma ought not to have heard the case involving the daughter of the Chief Election Commissioner..