KOCHI: What’s the price of justice? While that is debatable, there seems to be a price tag to get favourable verdicts. At least that is what a leading lawyer with the Kerala High Court had his clients believe when he collected lakhs from them. The money, he told them, was meant as kickbacks for HC judges to get judgments in their favour.
The shocking revelation was made in the report submitted by the HC’s vigilance wing after a detailed probe into the dealings of lawyer Saiby Jose Kidangoor. The probe was launched following revelations by HC lawyers as well as a directive from the court. The report said the team found several instances of Saiby collecting huge sums of money from clients by taking the names of Justice P V Kunhikrishnan, Justice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Ziyad Rahman A A of the Kerala HC. “Prima facie, there is sufficient material to prove the allegations against the lawyer,” said the report, a copy of which is with TNIE. It also said his integrity was ‘highly doubtful’.
The HC vigilance wing had recorded statements from several lawyers. One said that as per the information he received, Saiby secured Rs 25 lakh from a client to be given as bribe to a judge. Another lawyer said Saiby allegedly collected Rs 50 lakh from clients. The second lawyer also alleged that Saiby and his friends had been threatening him ever since he made the revelation on social media.
A third advocate said a film producer, who is an accused in a case registered with the Ernakulam South police station, had spent Rs 25 lakh on the case. The producer, said the lawyer, had told him that Rs 15 lakh was paid to Saiby as fees. As per the lawyer, when the producer sought a concession of Rs 5 lakh, Saiby told him that “some amount was to be given to the judge who was considering the case.” The probe officer concluded that Saiby’s acts would come within the ambit of professional misconduct as per Section 35 of the Advocates Act. The vigilance wing also suggested contempt of court proceedings as per Section 2 (c) of the Contempt of Court Act. Saiby was recently elected president of the Kerala High Court Advocates Association.