[Fake Antiques Scam] Kerala High Court pulls up State Police Chief for veiled threats, attempt to browbeat Court

The Kerala High Court on Thursday heavily rebuked the State Police Chief for filing an application filled with "veiled accusations and threats" against the Court in the case regarding fake antiques scam in which notorious conman Monson Mavunkal is the prime accused (Ajith EV v. Commissioner of Police and Ors.).Justice Devan Ramachandran expressed his shock and disappointment at the application submitted by the Director-General of Prosecution on behalf of the State Police Chief seeking disposal of the petition. The Court said that it was an attempt to twist the arms of the Court and ensure that to dictate to the Court on how the case has to be decided."No one, much less the parties to a lis, can dictate to this Court how and in what manner it is to be decided. They can make their case through pleadings and submissions, but can never insist that this Court deliver judgment in the manner they require. This application is unusual, never seen before in other cases, but surely filed with a design in seeking that this court dispose of the afore writ petition, in the manner as sought for therein, even before it has been finally heard or pleadings of the parties completed," the order passed by Court said..This, the Court stated was wholly inappropriate and unheard of, made worse by the tone and tenor of the allegations contained in it."The overbearing and recriminatory tenor of the averments in the affidavit, sworn to by a very senior ranking officer, in support of this application, is conspicuous and it reads like an argument note, to insist that this Court deliver judgment in a certain way," the order further said..Justice Ramachandran also rebuked the Director General of Prosecution in particular because he noted that the application contained accusations against another lawyer practicing before the Court for simply discharging his professional duties."You should not have allowed an IPS officer to say such things about an officer of this court. I can read between the lines. How dare this police officer deride the Court in this manner? You think if you don the khaki uniform you can say anything about the Court. These are veiled threats, an attempt to brow-beat this court. You're asking me to keep my eyes ears and mouth shut", the judge remarked orally..The Court dismissed the application but refrained from imposing costs even though it felt that it had every right to do so..Monson Mavunkal gained notoriety in Kerala after news reports surfaced that he had allegedly conned several people of over ₹10 crore through his antique scam.Thereafter, Mavunkal's former driver, the petitioner in this case, approached the Kerala High Court through advocates Philip T Varghese and Thomas T Varghese.He sought protection from his former boss after he had disclosed some information regarding Mavunkal's scam to the police.Later, he informed the Court that he has been receiving threats from police officials associated with Mavunkal and therefore, prayed for protection from such erring police officials as well.In October, some pictures surfaced in the media that showed that Monson Mavunkal was connected with the top police officials in the State, including Former Kerala Police Chief DGP Loknaath Behera and Current ADGP Manoj Abraham as well..The Court has consistently taken a very serious view of the matter, which seems to involve not just top police officials but also an expat organisation, and had previously directed the State Police Chief to file reports on the investigation and allowed the Enforcement Directorate to be impleaded into the party array. .However, in the application filed today, several allegations were made against the Court as were attempts at misdirection, the Court observed.Justice Ramachandran went through the statements which he considered to be objectionable..Pertinently, the Court took strong exception to a statement in the application which said 'It is submitted with all due respect, that in matters which are beyond the pleadings of the petitioner are taken up and discussed those are likely to adversely affect the ongoing investigation and the only beneficiary will be the accused in these crimes. Any open discussion or consideration of critical informations and leads in the ongoing investigation will provide undue advantage to the accused and thereby the criminal investigation now undertaken by the police itself would be put to peril'. The Court stated that "These averments are not merely incorrect, but unfortunate because, the various orders in this case would luculently show that this Court was only acting strictly edificed on the averments, materials and documents placed on record by the official respondents themselves and no other; and that no 'critical information' - which were even whisperingly stated by the learned Director General of Prosecutions to be confidential - was discussed or considered by this Court."Moreover, during the hearing today, upon being pressed by the Judge, the Director General of Prosecutions was unable to point out any specific instance when the Court crossed the line.This drew the ire of the Court which said that an application of this nature, which in its view is intended to browbeat the Court, should never have been advised, attempted, or pressed with vehemence. The Court accordingly dismissed the application..Interestingly, another petitioner has approached the Court seeking police protection from Mavunkal and his associates. Several allegations are made against two high-ranking police officers in this plea as well. The Court granted the petitioner police protection and will hear the matter further on December 17..[Read Order]