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Tehseen Poonawalla v. Union of India (Judge Loya case, Miscellaneous Application of Indira Jaising)

Miscellaneous Application · 2018 INSC 888Decided 26 Sept 2018
Miscellaneous Application No. 1607 of 2018 in W.P. (C) No. 19 of 2018
Chief Justice Dipak Misra · Justice A.M. Khanwilkar · Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud

Background

This Miscellaneous Application arose out of the Supreme Court's earlier 19 April 2018 judgment dismissing petitions seeking an independent probe into the death of CBI Special Judge B.H. Loya. In that judgment, the Court had made strong observations about the conduct of the petitioners and intervenors, suggesting their proceedings lacked bona fides and amounted to a misuse of judicial process bordering on contempt. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who had appeared for an intervenor in that case, filed this application asking the Court to expunge or clarify those remarks as they related to her personally, and to call for Bombay High Court records regarding the transfer of a judge connected to the case.

Decision Breakdown

The Court examined the specific paragraphs of its earlier judgment and found that the observations about "conduct of the petitioners and intervenors" were directed at the parties, not personally at counsel, and that the submissions criticised (such as pressing for contempt notices against the High Court's administrative committee) had in fact been made and were not in dispute. It noted that the prayer seeking High Court records was conceded to have been given up during the hearing. Finding no basis to treat the observations as a personal finding against the applicant-counsel, the Court declined to expunge or alter its earlier findings and simply disposed of the application without granting the relief sought.

Lesson Learnt

A court's critical observations about the conduct of parties in a case are not automatically treated as a personal finding against their counsel, and an application seeking to expunge such remarks will fail if the record shows the submissions in question were in fact made as described.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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