New Delhi: A Delhi court judge recently recused herself from hearing an anticipatory bail plea after the complainant’s counsel allegedly levelled corruption allegations against her. According to the order sheet, the lawyer, appearing via video conferencing, accused the judge, saying: “Paisa kha ke baithi hai. Isliye kuch nahi kar rahi (she has taken a bribe. That’s why she is doing nothing).”Judge Shivali Bansal observed that the court was not inclined to hear the matter any more and directed that a copy of the order sheet be sent to the Bar Council of Delhi for necessary information and action against the lawyer.The controversy arose during the hearing of an anticipatory bail application filed by accused, Pranav Grover, under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). During the initial hearing, the investigating officer (IO) informed the court that the applicant had not yet joined the investigation. The counsel for the applicant submitted that Grover was willing to cooperate.After hearing the submissions, the court directed the applicant to join the investigation with the IO on March 7 at 2 pm and granted him interim protection from arrest.However, later that day, the complainant’s counsel appeared through video conferencing and allegedly began shouting in court, claiming that the court ordered the police to recover a pet dog by 2 pm and questioning why the direction was not complied with. The court clarified that no such direction was issuedl application. The counsel was warned not to repeat such a conduct.The situation escalated when the lawyer appeared again through video conferencing later that afternoon and made allegations of corruption against the presiding officer, saying, “Agar aaj High Court khula hota, toh main chief justice ke court mein ja kar mention karta. Tum public servant ho, main officer of the Court hun”.The court declined to hear the matter. It said that the audio and video recordings of the proceedings be preserved for future reference.”
