Delhi High Court orders Bar Council of Delhi to probe two lawyers for alleged extortion

The Delhi High Court recently directed the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) to inquire into the conduct of two lawyers accused of abusing the court proceess to extort money from property owners.

The lawyers were accused of misusing the court process to secure orders from the Court to demolish property, and then approaching the property owners for money.

Justice Mini Pushkarna took note of the issue after a man named Narayan Kumar Kashyap claimed that his signature was forged on two contempt of court petitions. This aspect was part of a police report submitted before the Court.

"Perusal of the (police report) clearly shows a nexus amongst different persons, for the purposes of misusing the process of the Court by obtaining orders for demolition of the properties, and then approaching their owners, in order to take extort money from them," the Court noted.

Kashyap told the police that he had earlier been approached by some lawyers, while he was heading an NGO named the Universal Human Rights Foundation.

The lawyers are alleged to have persuaded him to sign some documents related to the filing of a public interest litigation (PIL) against some unauthorised construction.

Kashyap stated that one, Naresh Chauhan and his son, advocate Prashant Chauhan, had approached him roughly four to five years ago through advocate SK Shukla to file the PIL, which concerned a dispute with one Sushil Kumar Chauhan whom Kashyap never met personally.

Kashyap said that he had signed documents brought to him by Prashant Chauhan "in good faith," only to assist, without being shown any settlement terms.

Kashyap added that he is no longer heading the NGO, nor is he aware about proceedings concerning this PIL. However, two contempt of court petitions were later filed in connection with the case, which contained Kashyap's signature.

Kashyap claimed that his signature was forged. These aspects were reported to the Court through the police's inquiry report, filed pursuant to earlier directions.

The inquiry also brought out the other side of the dispute.

Sushil Kumar Chauhan (against whom the PIL was filed) had separately complained to Malviya Nagar police that lawyers Naresh Chauhan, Prashant Chauhan, SK Shukla and Sandeep Sehgal used the PIL and subsequent proceedings to pressure him and demand money.

By a July 21 order, Justice Pushkarna observed that all of this revealed a shocking state of affairs.

"Very shocking facts have been revealed to this Court, which show that a scam is being run by a set of people, wherein, they file petitions for the purpose of extorting money from the people, in whose properties, some unauthorized construction is existing," the Court said.

The Court proceeded to refer two lawyers named in connection with the alleged racket, namely, advocates SK Shukla and Prashant Chauhan, to the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD). The BCD has been directed to inquire into their conduct.

The Court also referred the matter to the police, directing them to register a first information report (FIR) in the matter.

Notably, this is not the first time that the Court has flagged such alleged extortion attempts. Last year, the Court fined a litigant ₹10 lakhs on finding that he was involved in filing cases levelling allegations of unauthorised construction in an apparent bid to extort money from others. His lawyer's conduct was also referred to the BCD.

[Read Judgement]