UP: HC slams alleged attempt to influence civil judge in land dispute case

The Allahabad High Court has deplored an alleged attempt to “influence” a civil judge in a land dispute by the Divisional Commissioner of Devi Patan, a litigant in a three-decade-old case, saying it struck at the independence of the judiciary and obstructed the administration of justice.

Citing a Supreme Court precedent on threats or pressure against judges in relation to judicial proceedings, the High Court’s Lucknow bench held that the matter required consideration by the court dealing with criminal contempt cases.

Justice Syed Qamar Hasan Rizvi directed that the matter be placed before the appropriate court after seeking directions from the Chief Justice or a senior judge.

The High Court said it could not ignore the allegations surrounding the phone call allegedly made by Divisional Commissioner Durga Shakti Nagpal to the Civil Judge, Shabina Khan, and said it was shocking that a litigating party could approach a court through such a call in the context of a pending matter.  Justice Rizvi passed the order on Friday in the course of hearing a transfer application filed by the applicant Jyoti Vidya Mandir School against the Municipal Council of Gonda in 1997 in a regular suit pending in the court of Judge Khan.  The dispute concerns several parcels of Nazul land recorded in the name of the Commissioner, Devi Patan division. According to the Divisional Commissioner’s version placed before the bench, the land had been reserved for construction of an office building and other government purposes.

The state authorities alleged that a school building had been constructed on the land and that the dispute over it had remained pending before the civil court for nearly three decades.