Delhi High Court Discharges Former DHCBA President Rajiv Khosla In Criminal Contempt Case By Former Judge

The Delhi High Court has discharged Rajiv Khosla, lawyer and former High Court Bar Association President Rajiv Khosla, in the contempt case filed by retired judicial officer Sujata Kohli.

A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain observed that Kohli was not able to produce any material which may compel the court to form an opinion that Khosla committed any criminal contempt.

In 2021, a trial court convicted Khosla for assaulting Kohli when she was a practicing lawyer in the year 1994 at Tis Hazari Courts. She later became a judge in the Delhi judiciary and retired as District and Sessions Judge. In her complaint, she had alleged that Khosla pulled her hair, twisted her arms, dragged her by hair and threatened her.

In the contempt plea before the High Court, Kohli alleged that Khosla, by a series of acts and words, had directly interfered with administration of justice and scandalised the court on its face during the sentencing proceedings. Khosla was let off with a fine of Rs 40,000 after the conviction.

Kohli in the contempt plea alleged that certain unfortunate series of events transpired during the hearings before the Trial Court specifically on 27th and 30th November, 2021.

After going through the CCTV footage of the VC proceedings produced by Kohli, the bench said that it was not discernible to hold that Khosla had demeaned the dignity of the Court.

“We would certainly like to highlight that the CCTV footage in question does indicate that the Court room was fully packed and, therefore, in view of the multiple background voices, even the voice of the alleged contemnor was not properly audible,” the court said.

It added that the court is cognizant of the fact that the Presiding Officer was to hear arguments on sentence and Khosla had remained officer bearer of Delhi Bar Association as well as of Delhi High Court Bar Association.

“Quite possibly, because of the aforesaid fact, many members of the Bar had collected inside the Court Room,” the court said.

Furthermore, in order to make sure that such type of incidents not happen in future, the court directed its Registrar General to circulate a copy of the order to all the Principal District & Sessions Judges of District Courts in the national capital.

It added that while dealing with similar cases, wherever so required and keeping in mind the sensitivity of any case, the concerned Presiding Officer can either take up the matter through video conferencing mode or restrict the access of general public in terms of Section 327 of Cr.P.C., after recording reasons in writing.

“In view of above, we, hereby, discharge the respondent from these proceedings. With the above directions, the petition stands disposed of,” the court said.

Title: MS. SUJATA KOHLI v. RAJIV KHOSLA

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 238

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