CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court refused to quash the FIR against a lawyer who allegedly took money from his client to bribe the judge who was hearing his case. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the lawyer.
The lawyer had filed a petition to quash the FIR registered against him at Mangalabag police station on November 11, 2021. The case is pending in the court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (City), Cuttack.
While dismissing the petition recently, the single judge bench of Justice Sibo Sankar Mishra directed the Bar Council to hold disciplinary proceedings uninfluenced by any observations made by the court and by affording ample opportunity to all concerned to participate in the proceedings.
Justice Mishra also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the petitioner's lawyer and directed him to deposit the amount before the District Legal Services Authority, Cuttack, within two weeks.
The court observed that the allegations were serious as the name of a former judge of the high court has been dragged into it.
“The informant has given meticulous details of the demands made which correlate to the period when the matter was pending before this court. Therefore, the present petition deserves no merit,” Justice Mishra said.
According to the high court order, the FIR was lodged by the wife of an accused in a case under the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, who had earlier approached the court seeking bail. She had accused the lawyer of taking Rs 16 lakh, a gold chain, and a gold bracelet for the daughter’s marriage of the then judge of the high court, who was supposed to hear the bail matter of her husband.
“The facts of the present case, as alleged, would show that the petitioner (lawyer) has insinuated and attributed wrongdoing to a former judge of this court,” Justice Mishra said, adding, the Bar Councils under the Advocates Act have been entrusted with the duty of guarding the professional ethics.