NEW DELHI: A group of 150 lawyers from the Delhi High Court and district courts have written to Chief Justice of India, Justice D Y Chandrachud, alleging a conflict of interest involving a High Court judge.
The lawyers criticised Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain for staying Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s bail order. They claimed that Justice Jain’s brother, Anurag Jain, serves as an Enforcement Directorate (ED) counsel, they argued that former should have recused himself from hearing the ED’s challenge due to “the conflict of interest.”
“Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain should have rescued himself from the proceedings since his real brother is a counsel for the Enforcement Directorate. This clear conflict of interest was never declared by Justice Jain,” the letter read.
They claimed that Justice Jain allowed the ED’s challenge to Kejriwal’s bail to be listed and stayed the execution of the bail bond even before the order was uploaded. This action, they argued, was “irregular and raised significant concerns” within the legal community.
In the letter, the lawyers also expressed concerns over “unprecedented practices” in the HC and lower courts, particularly in cases involving the ED and CBI. They claimed that judges are “delaying bail matters”, undermining justice and constitutional liberty.
“The country’s citizens approach the courts with great hope and trust. It is this trust that needs to be upheld by the judiciary and the legal community,” they wrote.
The letter referenced Additional Session Judge Nyaya Bindu’s decision to grant bail to Kejriwal on June 20 which quoted Chief Justice Chandrachud on the necessity of speedy and bold trial court decisions to avoid clogging higher courts.