Defence counsel's 'aspersions' irks Court

The ‘false aspersions’ made by a designated senior counsel against a Delhi court dealing with the CWG graft case infuriated a special CBI judge who complained about his conduct to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.

Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh, who is dealing with the CWG Timing, Scoring and Results System (TSR) scam case, was irked after senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for one of the accused, said prosecutor and 'naib' court (representative of police) visits the judge's chamber which gave an impression that a fair trial was not being conducted.

“A senior advocate is expected to act in a most dignified way and set an example for other advocates to follow. Unfortunately, Ramesh Gupta has failed to do while appearing before the court today. It appears that false aspersions have been made against this court by senior advocate Ramesh Gupta with some ulterior motive. Let the conduct be brought to the notice of Chief Justice of High Court of Delhi," the judge said. 

The court said that being a senior counsel, Gupta, who is appearing for former Secretary General of CWG Organising Committee (OC) Lalit Bhanot, should not level "false allegations" against it without any basis.

The exchange of words between Gupta and the judge occurred on Thursday when the counsel said the accused should not be called in the court everyday for scrutiny of documents.

 Gupta said a hostile atmosphere was being created in the court by calling the accused everyday for scrutiny.