New Delhi: A government lawyer has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to quash an FIR lodged against him. Interestingly, the FIR was filed by the very accused against whom the lawyer was representing the state.
Advocate Gaurav Agarwal, appearing on behalf of government counsel Shekhar Kakasaheb Jagpat, informed a bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran that the petitioner was representing the prosecution in a case against the accused.
The accused in question are not ordinary individuals but former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh and businessman Sanjay Punamiya. These two were facing legal proceedings initiated by Sandur Agarwal. The senior counsel told the Supreme Court that the FIR lodged by Punamiya should be quashed.
Judges of the High Court had already recused themselves from hearing the matter, and the case has remained pending for over a year. The Supreme Court has now directed the Chief Justice of the High Court to withdraw the case from his bench so that the apex court can take it up for immediate hearing. Alternatively, the Bombay High Court may also conduct an expedited hearing if it so decides.
Jagpat has been accused of using a forged document to secure his appointment as a Special Public Prosecutor in the case against Param Bir Singh. He claimed that Punamiya has filed multiple cases against him, all of which were dismissed by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa. He further stated that the police registered the FIR against him without conducting any preliminary inquiry.
