Extraordinary Powers Not For Affluent Accused To Arm-Twist The Law: Delhi HC Declines Plea To Consult Lawyers Outside Jail Premises
While declining the plea of the former Chairman of Ranbaxy, Malvinder Mohan Singh for permission to consult physically with his lawyers outside jail premises, while in custody, in order to prepare for proceedings before various courts, the Delhi High Court held that the "extraordinary powers of the Court are not meant to be exercised at the disposal of the affluent accused who do not leave any stone unturned to arm-twist the law of the land and administrative machinery to achieve their scrupulous ends".
The plea was declined by the trial court and the order was challenged before the High Court invoking Section 482 of Cr.P.C.
The Bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh noted that the accused along with others is alleged to have been swindled the proceeds of crime by the ED to the tune of 2397 Crores.
"Economic offences are detrimental not only to the economy of the nation but also the society at large. The underprivileged and downtrodden are often at the receiving end of the after-effects of such offences", the Court observed.
After referring to various judgments of the Supreme Court, the Court held that "The position of law that is crystallised, in light of the aforementioned judgments, is that jurisdiction under Section 482 should be exercised sparingly, with circumspection and in rarest of the rare cases."
The Court held that the extraordinary jurisdiction cannot be exercised to give special treatment to the petitioner by facilitating physical meetings for him with his counsel. "Inherent powers of the Court are meant to be exercised to prevent the abuse of the process of any Court, however the petitioner under the garb of the liberty to approach the Court under the said provision is attempting to commit gross misuse of process", the Court held.
"The provision of the Code that is meant to secure the ends of justice cannot be otherwise subverted to circumvent the scheme of the Code", the Court held while dismissing the petition.
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