Judge says persons claiming to be staff of 2 Union Ministers called to influence me

Chandigarh: A judge in Kurukshetra, Haryana, claimed that individuals posing as "staffers of two Union ministers" attempted to sway his court by making numerous phone calls and sending a text message to request a lengthy adjournment in a case involving a bounced check.

In a court judgement issued on July 6, Kurukshetra Additional Sessions Judge Ashu Kumar Jain described the incident and ordered the appellants “not to resort to such pressure tactics in future failing which appropriate proceedings would be initiated against them”.

The Kurukshetra District and Sessions Judge has received a copy of the order for informational purposes and to take any appropriate action, Indian Express reported.

The case in question involves Haryana Agro Industries Corp. Ltd. versus M/s Shyam Overseas & Ors.

In a criminal complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, three individuals—Shyam Lal, Beena Devi, and Mohit Garg—who are currently free on bail—filed an appeal against their convictions. This was done in 2018.

They submitted a request for a stay of further action in the appeal on June 1 of this year, until the conclusion of the arbitration proceedings.

The judge explained how attempts were made to sway the court before dismissing the application. He mentioned the mobile phone numbers used to make the calls.

“The appellants have been trying to approach this court by repeated phone calls in the name of Union Ministers from different mobile numbers in order to prevail upon this court to adjourn the case to a long date,” the order stated.

“On 28.06.2023, a phone call was received by the undersigned from mobile No… and the caller lady introduced herself as Personal Secretary of the Union Food Processing Minister. She requested for a long adjournment in the present case. She was told that matters are decided in courts on merits and not on the basis of recommendations,” it stated.

The appellants, the order stated, did not relent and got another call made to the judge “on 01.07.2023 from mobile No…. in which the caller introduced himself as Personal Secretary of the Union Law Minister” and requested for long adjournment in the case.

“He was also told that such recommendations are not appreciable and the case would be dealt with as per merits,” the order stated.

The judge further said that on July 6, the day he pronounced the ruling, he received numerous phone calls. “Today also, seven calls were received from mobile No…. on the mobile number of the undersigned.”

The order said that the appellants sent an SMS sent from a mobile phone that is reproduced as follows when the judge did not answer the calls:

“Good Morning Sir, Sir am Sachin Shinde Hon’ble Minister Arjunram Meghwal’s Personal Secretary Law Ministry Delhi. Sir, I spoke to you on 1st July regarding the case of agro, today’s hearing is there. We say that today you will give the date of 5-6 months because… talks is going on so need some more time. Today listing No.-43 M/s. Shyam Lal Overseas Vs. Haryana Agro Industries. Case No. CRA/14/2018.”

The appellants began making calls from another mobile number after the judge blocked the appellants' original mobile phone, the judge claimed. “After avoiding three calls from the said mobile number, the undersigned picked the fourth call only to find that it was the same person claiming himself to be the Private Secretary of the Union Law Minister. As such, the caller was rebuked and warned of criminal proceedings, if he called the undersigned again,” the order stated.

Reached for comment, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said: “We have never discussed any case in our office, nor is it our habit to call judges. This has nothing to do with me or my office.” Officials at the Minister’s office said, “There is no person by this name in our office, and no such call or communication has been made by our side.”

According to the office of Union Food Processing Industries Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, the minister's staff is entirely male. There has never been a woman on the staff of the minister of food processing industries, according to Prasanna Kumar Sahi, Additional Private Secretary. No women worked for Paras when he was a member of parliament, according to Sahi.