A petition has been filed in the Bombay High Court seeking criminal prosecution against Justice Revati Mohite Dere in the Chanda Kochar Bail Case.

Mursalin Shaikh, a human rights activist, has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court, seeking directions for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Advocate General to initiate criminal prosecution and contempt proceedings against Justice Revati Mohite Dere. The petitioner has accused Justice Dere of corruption and forgery of High Court records in granting bail to Smt. Chanda Kochar. The PIL was filed through the Indian Bar Association’s Maharashtra State President, Adv. Vijay Kurle.

The petitioner’s main grievance is that the actual offence against Chanda Kochar falls under section 409 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which carries a punishment of life imprisonment, and this fact was mentioned in the order dated 24.12.2022 by the CBI Special Judge. However, to grant wrongful benefit of bail to Chanda Kochar, Justice Revati Mohite Dere incorrectly mentioned in the order that the offences carried a punishment of up to seven years imprisonment only. The petitioner alleges that Justice Dere is guilty of perjury and forgery of court records and has prayed for action against her and Justice Prithviraj Chavan under various sections of the IPC.

The petitioner has also raised the issue of misconduct by Justice Revati Mohite Dere in giving out of turn and urgent hearings to powerful accused and a select group of advocates, while giving discriminatory treatment to others. The petitioner has cited a ruling by a three-judge bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Sadhna Chaudhary Vs. State (2020) 11 SCC 760, which held that the act of a Judge in giving out of turn hearing is an act of unbecoming of a Judge and amounts to corruption.

The petitioner has further pointed out that Justice Revati Mohite Dere’s real sister, Smt. Vidya Chavan, is an MP from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and therefore, as per the ‘Judges Ethics Code’ and specific law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and Bombay High Court, it is not permissible for Justice Dere to hear cases related to the NCP. However, Justice Dere allegedly heard many such cases and passed orders in their favor.

The petitioner has also alleged that Justice Revati Mohite Dere deliberately flouted guidelines issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in various judgments while granting bail in writ jurisdiction. The petitioner has cited a specific direction given by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Arnab Goswami Vs State (2021) 2 SCC 427, which states that bail in writ jurisdiction can be granted only when the offence is prima facie not made out, and no bail can be granted in writ jurisdiction without such finding. The petitioner claims that Justice Dere has deliberately violated this direction.

The PIL has received support from many Bar Associations, and around 200 lawyers from the Indian Bar Association (IBA) and Supreme Court Lawyers Association (SCLA) are likely to appear on behalf of the petitioner.

According to the directions given in Ram Pratak Yadav (2003) 1 SCC 15, Justice Revati Mohite Dere was duty-bound to refer to the observations of the CBI Spl. Judge in his order dated 24.12.2022. However, Justice Dere is alleged to have acted in gross contempt of the binding directions, and the petitioner has requested the Advocate General to take appropriate action of contempt, or the High Court should forward a reference of contempt. The petitioner has cited the case of Justice C.S. Karnan, who was sentenced to six months imprisonment by the Supreme Court for contempt, as a precedent.

The petitioner has also highlighted that this is not the first case of misuse of power and corruption by Justice Revati Mohite Dere. On many occasions, she allegedly adopted a similar modus operandi to give undue favor to undeserving people. The petitioner has provided documentary evidence of police records and court orders to prove that Justice Dere had granted anticipatory bail to NCP MLA Dilip Mohite in a serious charge of attempt to murder a police officer by concealing charges under section 307 of the IPC. The petitioner alleges that Justice Dere did not mention the observation of the Sessions Judge Pune in this case as well.

A downloadable copy of the petition is available Here.