Delhi: Client seeks cancellation of lawyer's bail

A lawyer bailed out two weeks ago after 57 months in jail under trial for swindling a client faced cancellation of the bail.

B N Singhvi was granted bail by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate A K Pandey after having been denied it repeatedly over the last five years by the sessions court, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.

‘The trial court be directed to take him into custody,’ complainant Guninder Kaur Gill, a former employee of a leading German bank, submitted to Sessions Judge S P Garg.

Singhvi was engaged by Mrs Gill to pursue claims against her employer, a leading German bank, but tried to dupe her with alleged forgeries of a German court order and a Euro 253,000 draft, case documents indicate.

They allege that Singhvi was engaged by Mrs Gill to file her claims against her employer, for which he took from her Rs 25 lakhs.

The accused was to have filed her employment claims against Deutsche Bank in Germany’s Federal Labour Court for which he made several trips to Germany and Singapore at her expense.

The accused allegedly gave her a fabricated judgment of the German court and a Euro 253,000 draft of Commerz Bank payable at Amex Bank in New Delhi.

Mrs Gill alleged that the lawyer demanded more money before releasing her dues.

Queries whether the accused had proceeded with her employer, the Deutsch Bank of Germany, out of court for a settlement, have not made things any clearer.

Sources close to the litigation indicate that the German bank has not been forthcoming with facts.

Submissions in the Court have described the accused as a habitual offender, facing several cases for such criminal charges as fraud, cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and criminal intimidation.

The charges against him in various cases include forging the orders of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest courts of Switzerland and Germany.

Mrs Gill’s lawyer, Jayant Sud, argued that this was no case for grant of bail.

Singhvi’s lawyer, L K Upadhyay, noted that the permission to renew application for bail came in the Delhi High Court order of February 25, 2009.

The defence lawyer said the law for cancellation of bail was settled and provided for it in the event of misuse of liberty by an accused on bail.

In this case, the complainant had moved the application even before the accused was actually released on bail.

Upadhyay argued the bail was rightly granted, saying a person not proven guilty while in custody for almost five years should not remain incarcerated indefinitely.

Sud said Singhvi’s track record did not suggest a case for grant of bail.

He acknowledged that the High Court permitted the accused to file a bail application if the evidence was not completed by May 31.

But he said it did not direct ‘non-consideration’ of such factors as antecedents, previous dismissals of bail requests, nature of offence or cause for the delay in the trial.

He said the accused should not have been given bail just because he has been behind bars for four plus years, since he himself was responsible for causing the delay.

The magistrate had ‘erred’ in granting bail to the advocate on the basis of forgeries claiming he was a partner of the complainant and her father, the Court was told.

Singhvi’s lawyers had obtained some 25 adjournments, the court was told. ‘The accused deliberately delayed the proceedings of the case in order to scuttle the trial and derive undue benefit for bail.’ Special Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastav cited a High Court judgment against giving bail to an accused whose conviction may result in life term.

Experts and critics say the flaw lies in Indian laws and procedures which allow delays and failure to convict.

The result is a frightfully low proportion of convictions-- barely six per cent-- even in heinous offences.

For the moment the system ends up giving all the breaks to the accused, especially those who are well-heeled. Talk of introducing victim friendly laws and ways has remained talk.

The matter will come up before Judge Garg on July 18.