Rajiv Khosla, supporters held CMM Court to ransom: Sujata Kohli in criminal contempt petition in assault case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked former District and Sessions Judge Sujata Kohli to place on record CCTV footage and recording of proceedings before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court in the case against former Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) President Rajiv Khosla [Sujata Kohli v Rajiv Khosla]..Kohli had moved a criminal contempt petition against Khosla alleging that when the CMM was to pronounce orders on a sentence against Khosla, he and his supporters from the Bar held the Court to ransom, shouted slogans and interrupted the judge repeatedly. As a result, the judge was not able to dictate his order in open court, it was claimed..A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani noted the seriousness of the allegations and asked Kohli to place videos of the proceedings before the High Court by Wednesday, when the matter will next be taken up for hearing.“What you are alleging is so serious is that we will have to look at it. We would like to see the CCTV footage…We are as concerned as anybody else about how the court proceedings have to be conducted. We consider any contempt very seriously,” the Bench observed..On November 6 last year, Khosla was convicted by a Delhi court for assaulting Kohli in 1994. She was then a lawyer practising at the Tis Hazari Court. CMM Gajender Singh Nagar of the Tis Hazari Court found Khosla guilty of offences under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, more than 27 years after Kohli filed the complaint against Khosla..In her contempt petition, Kohli said that on the date of sentencing, the CMM Court was jam-packed with lawyers shouting slogans that Khosla's conviction order was passed under pressure from the victim. What was more alarming was the fact that this happened in the presence of two district judges, Kohli claimed.“…all this was happening in the presence of 2 District Judges who happened to be visible on the VC Camera, and seen and heard by the complainant herself. What is most outrageous, and out of the ordinary, was that, the two ld. District Judges were compelled to come to the Dias of ld. CMM, and to remain there throughout, for almost the whole of the proceedings till they had to be adjourned. That, the two District Judges were even compelled to address the convict and his supporters throughout as· "Khoslajee" & "Gupta jee", "please", "Please", "what about your assurance to maintain law and order!" and this, with, both of the District Judges, one to the right, and one to the left, of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, and with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate sitting in between, presiding over his own court! It was as if the two District Judges had literally taken over the court of Ld. CMM.”The plea stated that it was almost as if the CMM and the two district judges were beseeching and begging the mob to let the proceedings of the Court continue.“All went in vain and matter ultimately, after about 1 and a half hour of this din and noise, and after a literal begging from the two District Judges, ended in an adjournment. The complainant who had been directed to join through V.C. and advised by District Judge HQ and rightly so, to avoid physical hearing, watched all this show of unbridled power of the convict, a Bar Leader and his supporters, over a court of law. They held the entire court proceedings to a ransom, where two District Judges, including District Judge HQ himself had to stand on the Dias of the Court of CMM and go on beseeching the convict as "ji", and almost beg his supporters, to let the CMM dictate the order sheet 'at least'.”.Back in August 1994, Kohli accused Khosla, then Secretary of the Delhi Bar Association (DBA), of pressuring her to join various protests and demonstrations. On July 29, 1994, she was asked to attend a seminar on family courts but declined as she was busy. Khosla then threatened her and said that all the facilities provided to her would be taken away.She filed a civil suit seeking an injunction, but soon after that, her table and chair at the court complex were removed.In August 1994, she moved an application for changing the nature of the suit from permanent injunction to mandatory injunction. Though the Court asked the parties to maintain status quo, the Civil Judge said that she would also visit the site on the same day.While Kohli was waiting on her seat for the judge, Khosla arrived with another co-accused named PS Rathi and a mob of 40-50 people, pulled Kohli by her hair, twisted her arms and dragged her while hurling abuses and threats.A complaint was then filed, but the police registered a case only five days later at the Subzi Mandi Police Station, it was alleged.The investigation took nearly a year to complete and because Kohli was not satisfied with the probe, she moved a private complaint for prosecution in the case. The complaint and police case were later clubbed, and as she became a judge in 2002, the public prosecutor conducted the case..Delhi court convicts former Bar President Rajiv Khosla for assault of woman lawyer in 1994