India, Aug. 27 -- A Delhi court has convicted alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar for impersonating a sitting Supreme Court judge to influence a special judge for bail in a corruption case in 2017, describing the act as a "direct affront" to the independence and sanctity of the judicial process. Chief Judicial Magistrate Harshita Mishra held Chandrasekhar guilty of offences under IPC Sections 170 (personating a public servant), 189 (threat of injury to a public servant) and 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication). The court will hear him on the quantum of sentence on August 27. In an order dated August 20, the court said, "The present case shall for posterity remain a reminder that the majesty of law does not reside in the voice of an individual, however authoritative it may sound over a telephone, but in the integrity of the judicial process itself." Also Read - H1N1 hits 2,446 in Capital Advertisement The case arose from a phone call made on April 28, 2017, when Chandrasekhar was in police custody in connection with the corruption case. According to the prosecution, he obtained access to the mobile phone of police constable Manjeet and used it to contact the official landline and mobile phone of Poonam Chaudhary, then special judge dealing with Prevention of Corruption Act cases. The court said Chandrasekhar first impersonated the private secretary of a then sitting Supreme Court judge and later the judge himself. He allegedly sought to persuade Chaudhary to grant bail to him at the earliest and threatened her with adverse professional consequences if she did not comply. Also Read - Rs 2,500 promise, now in motion "A courtroom may be entered through its doors, but justice cannot be entered through the backdoor of impersonation, intimidation or manufactured authority. The accused attempted precisely such a backdoor entry into the judicial process. The evidence has closed that door," the court said. The judge said the case was qualitatively different from an ordinary cheating or impersonation matter as the alleged conduct sought to undermine judicial independence by using the authority of the country's highest court to influence another judicial officer. "The court also finds it necessary to record that the conduct of the accused constitutes a direct affront to the independence and sanctity of the judicial process. Courts decide cases on the basis of law and evidence, not on the basis of telephone calls purporting to emanate from persons occupying positions of authority," the judge said. Also Read - Waterlogging: PWD, NDMC at odds The court said the prosecution had established beyond reasonable doubt that Chandrasekhar deliberately assumed the identity of a Supreme Court judge to interfere with the administration of justice. "The accused sought to use that borrowed authority not for any legitimate purpose, but to procure a judicial outcome favourable to himself. The brazenness of the attempt cannot dilute the offence; rather, it demonstrates the deliberateness with which the criminal design was executed," the judge said. The court held that impersonation was central to Chandrasekhar's attempt to influence the judge, attracting IPC Sections 189 and 507. It called the conduct a direct affront to judicial process and directed police to re-examine constable Manjeet's role.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.