Lawyer seeking Gujarat guv's recall gets SC shock

The lawyer, who had earlier received a setback from Gujarat High Court for seeking the recall of Gujarat Governor Dr Kamla, on Thursday got a jolt and shock from the Supreme
Court on the same matter.

The apex court not only termed his PIL “frivolous, misleading and ill-advised” but also slapped the petitioner with a hefty fine of Rs1 lakh. And to his humiliation, the lawyer was forcibly taken away from the courtroom by the security guars of the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, a bench of justices HL Dattu and AK Dave took strong exception that    advocate Ashok Pande, a native of Uttar Pradesh, “misused” the PIL for which an exemplary cost must be imposed. At the beginning of the hearing, the bench made it clear to the advocate that the petition was “frivolous” and it would impose heavy cost if he went ahead with the arguments.

But testing the patience of the bench, Pande went ahead with his arguments for one hour during which he raised all sorts of issues, including appointing a Constitution bench for the matter. He continued to argue that chief minister Narendra Modi’s opposition to Dr Kamla’s name for the gubernatorial post had been ignored by the Centre and her appointment was a nullity according to law.

At the end of his arguments, the bench dismissed his petition seeking direction to the President to recall the Gujarat governor and imposed a cost of Rs1 lakh. The bench said Pande will have to deposit the cost to the Gujarat Legal Services Authority within a week, failing which recovery process would be initiated. The petitioner, however, made submissions even after the order was dictated and then sought apology with folded hands.

Not sympathising with his gesture, the bench told him that it had warned him at the beginning of the hearing and called the security to take him away as he continued with his arguments. The lawyer was taken out of the courtroom forcibly by a security guard.

He had approached the apex court challenging Gujarat high court order dismissing his PIL for recall of the governor. The high court had also slapped him with a penalty of `25,000 for “frivolous litigation”.

He had sought removal of the governor after chief minister Modi allegedly wrote a letter to the prime minister to recall her for appointing justice RA Mehta as Lokayukta without the consent of the CM.

Pande had sought recall of the governor on the ground that her appointment itself was void ab initio because the Centre had not taken Modi’s consent before making her the governor.    

(With Agencies)