Lawyer seeks ex-CJI's correspondence with HC judge

A plea was made in the Supreme Court for production of correspondence between ex-CJI KG Balakrishnan, sitting judge H L Gokhale and then Madras High Court judge R Reghupathi who had alleged that former Telecom Minister A Raja attempted to influence him in a criminal case.

The counter affidavit filed by Madras-based advocate Elephant Rajendran also sought contempt proceedings against lawyer K Chandramohan for allegedly misleading the apex court in an affidavit that he had tendered an apology to the judge after the incident.

The apex court on December 15 while staying the Madras High Court order suspending Chandramohan from chairmanship of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and initiation of disciplinary action had asked Rajenderan to file a counter affidavit.

In response, Rajendran on whose petition the High Court had suspended Chandramohan, urged the apex court to direct the Registrar General of the Madras High Court to furnish the letters of correspondence exchanged between Justice Reghupathi and Justice Gokhale who was at that time Chief Justice and also the latter's correspondence with Justice Balakrishnan.

The Madras High Court had on December 7 suspended Chandramohan from the bar for allegedly attempting to influence Justice Regupathy by taking the name of Raja. A division bench comprising Justice F M Ibrahim Khalifulla and Justice M M Sundaresh had said the status of Chandramohan shall stand suspended forthwith.

He should not not be permitted to function as such pending disciplinary action by the Bar Council of India, the bench had said. The bench had appended a portion of a letter written by Justice Reghupati, who had reported that Chandramohan had entered his chamber last year and pleaded that the case of a father and a son, accused in a marks scandal case in Puducherry, for anticipatory bail be considered favourably as they were "family friends" of Raja.

The lawyer handed over his mobile phone to the judge, saying that the "union minister is on the line to have a talk with me".

"I discouraged such conduct of Chandramohan and told him that the case would be disposed of in accordance with law, if listed before me," Justice Reghupati had said in his letter of July 7, 2009 to the then Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

Justice Reghupati, who has since retired, had in his letter, complained about Chandramohan's "outburst and uncontrollable" behaviour. Both Justice Balakrishnan and Justice Gokhale sparred recently on the issue with the former insisting that there was no mention of "Raja" in Reghupathi's letter and the latter asserting that the name was clearly mentioned.