Tis Hazari judge pleads for mercy after SC flak

Tis Hazari judge pleads for mercy after SC flak

You have no business to touch an SC order... you should resign, bench tells Additional District Judge Sinha

Mercy, my lords,” pleaded Delhi’s Additional District Judge Archana Sinha in open court on Tuesday.

A seasoned judge at the Tis Hazari courts, Sinha looked confident in the morning. She had not imagined that the hearing before Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sundha Misra of the Supreme Court might lead her in tears.

ADJ Sinha was summoned by the Supreme Court to explain how she had dared to “disobey” the Supreme Court in a property-related case.

The case is simple: Uddham Singh Jain Charitable Trust in 1992 refused to vacate the premises located in Central Delhi, rented out to it by Atmaram Builders a decade ago. The latter went to court in 1993 and won the case for re-possession of the property in 2004.

Four years later, in 2008, the Trust lost its appeal when the Delhi High Court confirmed the civil court’s verdict. The matter then reached the Supreme Court, which on October 6, 2010, upheld the earlier judgments and concluded that the tenant, the Trust, should leave the premises by April 4, 2011.

On April 23, 2011, a “brother” of an office-bearer of the Trust moved ADJ Sinha’s court, claiming he was co-tenant and had a right to be heard, too. Sinha promptly “stays” the SC order, bringing Atmaram Builders back to the apex court.

On Tuesday, the Trust, represented by senior lawyers Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi, sought an adjournment and a hearing post the summer vacations in July.