Transfer of proceedings from judicial officer can't be merely on apprehension of bias: Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court has said transfer of proceedings from a judicial officer cannot be done on mere allegation by one party, and dismissed a petition of the Lilavati Hospital's trust founder alleging bias against the Charity Commissioner.
A single bench of Justice Sharmila Deshmukh last month refused to transfer the proceedings pertaining to a dispute between the trustees from the Charity Commissioner to any other judicial officer, noting there was no reasonable apprehension of bias or prejudice.
The HC said passing of an adverse order cannot be the foundation for seeking transfer of proceedings.
"It is necessary to ensure for securing the ends of justice that a mere allegation is differentiated from an apprehension and what is required is a reasonable apprehension. An absence of congenial atmosphere cannot be a ground for transfer," it said.
The court dismissed the petition filed by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust founder Charu Mehta and permanent trustees Rajesh Mehta and Prashant Mehta, seeking transfer of all proceedings pertaining to the trust from the Charity Commissioner to any other judicial officer while alleging bias.
The petitioners are embroiled in a dispute with the other trustees over control of the trust and the Lilavati Hospital.
"In my view the apprehension of the petitioners lacks foundation," the judge said.
The adverse orders passed by the Charity Commissioner against the petitioners cannot be said to be the result of a "pre-judged mind and cannot form the basis for reasonable apprehension that justice will not be done by the Charity Commissioner while adjudicating the proceedings," the HC said.
The court noted that transfer of proceedings from a court or a quasi-judicial officer is usually viewed as a suspicion being cast on the conduct of proceedings by the judicial officer and hence transfer cannot be based on mere allegation.
Earlier this year, the Charity Commissioner provisionally accepted certain change reports of the trust and initiated suo motu (on its own) inquiry against the trustees including the petitioners and pending inquiry suspended the trustees except Charu Mehta.
Mehta and the two other trustees filed a petition in the HC, challenging the Charity Commissioner's order.
The HC in September stayed the order, noting the Charity Commissioner had acted contrary to the provisions of law.
The petitioners claimed the Charity Commissioner initiated suo motu inquiry even when there was no such prayer from the other side.
The plea alleged the Charity Commissioner had held a private meeting with lawyers of the other side, which casts a serious doubt about impartiality.
The respondent trustees claimed the petitioners habitually file transfer applications when faced with adverse orders and those applications have been rejected in the past.
The HC observed that even if the orders passed are not in accordance with law, at the most it can be said to be a perverse order capable of being corrected by the higher forum.
"However, the passing of such an order itself cannot be said to be the result of a predetermined and prejudiced mind," the court said.
The allegations levelled by the petitioners, if viewed, in isolation would not indicate any basis for apprehension of bias and even if viewed cumulatively it would at the most amount to passing of adverse orders, the HC said.
"The judicial orders passed by the authorities legitimately, though may or may not be corrected by the higher forums, cannot lead to an inference of pre-judged and/or pre-determined and/or biased mind against the litigant," it said.
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BharatPe fraud case: Delhi HC quashes lookout circular against Ashneer Grover, wife
New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi High Court has ordered cancellation of a lookout circular (LOC) issued against Ashneer Grover, the former MD of payment app BharatPe, and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, noting that the FIR lodged against them over allegations of cheating and forgery has already been quashed.
Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on Monday after the court was informed that another bench of the high court quashed the FIR on the same day.
The FIR was quashed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh after considering a plea moved by the Grovers stating that they have arrived at a settlement with the fintech company.
In his order, Justice Narula said, "Although the copy of the order (quashing the FIR) is not available as of now, the aforenoted fact is not disputed by the counsel for the parties.
"In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by respondent No. 3 (Bureau of Immigration), in the opinion of the court, will not survive."
The LOC was issued by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in view of the investigation against the Grovers in the cheating and forgery FIR.
The court was hearing a plea moved by Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover seeking quashing of the LOC issued against them in connection with the investigation into the cheating and forgery case.
"Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the respondents to cancel the LOC against the petitioners in their records," the court noted.
Earlier, the Grovers claimed that they were informed about the LOC for the first time when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the US.
After being detained, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023.
In May last year, the EOW filed an FIR against Grover, his wife Madhuri, and others under eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) for an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud after a complaint was lodged by BhartPe, the fintech unicorn.
In its complaint, BharatPe alleged that Grover and his family caused damages to the tune of Rs 81.3 crore through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri, and destruction of evidence.
Madhuri was the head of controls at BharatPe before she was fired in 2022 after a forensic audit revealed several irregularities.
Subsequently, Grover resigned as the chief executive officer of the fintech firm in March 2022.
