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10 Sep 2018 10:30am

‘Is this a joke’, says SC on a plea against a lower court order delivered through WhatsApp

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In a bizarre yet true incident, a lower court judge framed charges against the accused through a ‘WhatsApp’ call.

The accused, including former Jharkhand minister and his MLA wife, filed a plea in the Supreme Court against the order passed by a lower court judge in Hazaribagh – that was pronounced by him through instant messaging app WhatsApp.

Ex-Jharkhand minister Yogendra Sao and his wife Nirmala Devi were accused in a rioting case in 2016, in which four people were killed during violent clashes between villagers and police. They were granted bail last year by the apex court on the condition that they shall stay in Bhopal and not enter Jharkhand besides attending the court proceedings.

Both of the accused, in their plea, has alleged that the trial judge had on April 19 this year framed charges against them through a ‘WhatsApp Call’ despite raising objections to it.

The case came up hearing before a bench of Justices S A Bobde and L N Rao, who took serious note of the submissions and said,

What is happening in Jharkhand. This process cannot be allowed, and we cannot allow administration of justice to be brought into disrepute”.

The SC bench further said,

We are here on the way of trial being conducted through WhatsApp. This can not be done. What kind of a trial is this? Is this a kind of joke?" the bench asked the counsel appearing for Jharkhand.

The bench then issued a notice to Jharkhand on the plea filed by both the accused, seeking transfer of their cases from Hazaribagh to New Delhi. The top court had asked the state to respond to it within two weeks.

In response to the top court’s notice, the state counsel told the court that the former minister Sao has been violating the bail condition and had been usually out of Bhopal causing delay in the court proceedings.

To this, the bench observed,

That is a different thing. If you have a problem with violation of bail conditions by the accused, you can file a separate application seeking cancellation of bail. We make it clear that we have no sympathy with those who have violated bail condition.”


Tagged: Order Passed Through WhatsApp WhatsApp Trial Judge in Hazaribagh Ex Jharkhand Minister Yogendra Sao Nirmala Devi Rioting Case Bhopal Jharkhand Supreme Court of India
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