A Delhi court has convicted Sukesh Chandrasekhar for impersonating a sitting judge of the Supreme Court in an attempt to influence a judicial officer and secure bail in a corruption case pending against him.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Harshita Mishra of the Tis Hazari Courts delivered the judgment on August 20, holding Chandrasekhar guilty of offences punishable under Sections 170, 189 and 507 of the Indian Penal Code. The court is scheduled to hear him on the quantum of sentence on August 27.
The prosecution case stemmed from an incident in April 2017, when Chandrasekhar was in police custody in connection with a corruption case. He was accused of obtaining access to the mobile phone of Constable Manjeet and using it to contact Poonam Chaudhary, then a Special Judge dealing with Prevention of Corruption Act cases, before whom his matter was pending.
According to the prosecution, Chandrasekhar initially represented himself as the private secretary to a sitting Supreme Court judge. Another voice subsequently claimed to be that of the judge himself. The purported callers allegedly sought Chandrasekhar’s immediate release on bail and warned the judicial officer of adverse professional consequences in the event of non-compliance.
The court found that the evidence established the essential ingredients of all three offences. It held that the impersonation involved a deliberate assumption of the identity of a public servant, while the communication was intended to exert pressure upon a judicial officer in the exercise of her judicial discretion. The court also found the offence of criminal intimidation through anonymous communication to have been made out.
The judgment viewed the conduct as striking at interests far beyond an ordinary instance of impersonation. The court underscored that an attempt to invoke the authority of the country’s highest court to influence an ongoing judicial proceeding implicated the independence and integrity of the adjudicatory process itself.
The case, however, did not end with Chandrasekhar’s conviction. The court expressed serious concern regarding the circumstances in which he allegedly gained access to Constable Manjeet’s mobile phone. It noted that the available circumstances warranted a closer examination of whether the constable had merely been negligent or had played a role in facilitating access to the device.
Accordingly, the court directed the Delhi Police to re-examine the constable’s role and investigate several aspects surrounding the use of the mobile phone, including the manner in which Chandrasekhar obtained access to it and whether further departmental or criminal proceedings were warranted. It also directed that the judgment be placed before the Commissioner of Police for consideration of the investigative deficiencies identified during the trial.
The matter will now proceed to the sentencing stage, with the court slated to hear Chandrasekhar on the question of punishment on August 27.
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