A Delhi court has convicted alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar for impersonating a sitting Supreme Court judge in an attempt to influence a special judge to grant him bail in a corruption case in 2017.
The court will hear arguments on the quantum of sentence on 27 August.
How the case unfoldedThe case relates to a phone call made on 28 April 2017, when Sukesh was in police custody in connection with the corruption case.
The court said Chandrasekhar first impersonated the private secretary of a then sitting SC judge and later the judge himself.
"A courtroom may be entered through its doors, but justice cannot be entered through the backdoor of impersonation, intimidation or manufactured authority.
A Delhi court has convicted alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar for impersonating a sitting Supreme Court judge in an attempt to influence a special judge to grant him bail in a corruption case in 2017.
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 arguments on the quantum of sentence on 27 August.
In an order dated 20 August, 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."
How the case unfolded
The case relates to a phone call made on 28 April 2017, when Sukesh 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 SC judge and later the judge himself. He allegedly sought to persuade Chaudhary to grant him bail at the earliest and threatened her with adverse professional consequences if she did not comply.
"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.
