IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
ORIGINAL
CIVIL JURISDICTION
CIVIL
MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO 56684 OF 2023
IN
WRIT
PETITION CIVIL NO. 13604 OF 2023
IN THE MATTER OF
SEEMA SAPRA … PETITIONER
CP,
MR SANJAY ARORA & OTHERS
.. RESPONDENTS
APPLICATION UNDER
SECTION 151 CPC AND INVOKING THE INHERENT POWERS OF THIS HON’BLE COURT PLACING
ON RECORD THE DELHI HIGH COURT ROSTER AND SEEKING DIRECTIONS FOR PROPER LISTING
OF THIS WRIT PETITION BEFORE DIVISION BENCH 1 WHICH IS THE CORRECT ROSTER BENCH
ALONG WITH OTHER PRAYERS
The application of
the Petitioner most respectfully showeth :-
1.
Writ
Petition 13604 of 2023 was listed on 17 October before Delhi High Court. The
order passed on 17 October 2023 is reproduced below.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF
DELHI AT NEW DELHI W.P.(C) 13604/2023 SEEMA SAPRA .....
Petitioner Through: Petitioner
in person. versus CP, MR. SANJAY ARORA
AND ORS. ..... Respondents Through: Mr.
Shashank Garg and Mr. Sidhant Garg, Advocates for R-7. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE
SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD O R D E R 17.10.2023 1. The Petitioner,
who appears in person, is aggrieved by a threat assessment report dated Nil
purportedly issued by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police:
Special Cell, Delhi assessing the threat assessment of the
Petitioner/Assessee. The threat assessment has been carried out in compliance
of the Order dated 01.06.2023 passed by this Court in W.P.(Crl) 437/2018. In
the said report, it is stated that there is no reasonable or apparent threat
to the Petitioner/Assessee from any quarter. 2. The Petitioner,
who appears in person, states that she has doubt on the veracity of the
aforesaid report. 3. Issue notice. 4. On payment of
process fee, let notice be issued to Respondent Nos.2, 3 and 4 through all
permissible modes, including Dasti. 5. The original file
be produced before this Court on the next date of This is a digitally signed
order. 6. List on
07.11.2023. SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD,
J OCTOBER 17, 2023 |
2.
The
Petitioner has filed Civil Miscellaneous Application No. 54952/ 2023 in this Writ Petition seeking
modification of the Order dated 17 October 2023 on the ground that the Order completely
mis-states the case of the Petitioner in the Writ Petition to the extent that
the very nature of the relief / directions sought by the Petitioner would be
misunderstood and the very grounds of challenge would appear to be altered by
the incorrect statements in the Order. The prayer clause of Civil Miscellaneous
Application No. 54952/ 2023 is
reproduced below.
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1. Reproduce the entire Prayer Clause of
WP Civil 13604/ 2023 in Order dated 17 October 2023; 2. Correct Order dated 17 October 2023 to
record that the Petitioner has challenged the alleged Threat Assessment
Report as a forged document and has sought the registration of an FIR for
forgery and that in the alternative she has challenged the alleged Threat
Assessment Report as a sham and fraudulent document and has prayed for it to
be quashed; 3. Reproduce entire Paragraph 11 of the
Writ Petition in Order dated 17 October 2023 which paragraph sets outs eleven
sub-grounds/ reasons from A to K on why the document filed as Threat
Assessment Report is a forgery, and record the submission of the Petitioner
that a prima facie case is made out that the document filed as Threat
Assessment Report is a forgery; 4. Correct Order dated 17 October 2023 to
record that the Petitioner states that no Threat Assessment has been carried
out and that the Order dated 1 June 2023 passed in Delhi High Court WP Crl
437/ 2018 has not been complied with; 5. Delete the sentences in Order dated 17
October 2023 which read that “The threat assessment has been carried out in
compliance of the Order dated 01.06.2023 passed by this Court in W.P. (Crl)
437/2018. In the said report, it is stated that there is no reasonable or
apparent threat to the Petitioner/ Assessee from any quarter” as the
appearance of these two sentences in this form in the Order dated 17 October
2023 can be misinterpreted as a finding of fact by the High Court; 6. Correct the Order dated 17 October 2023
to record that the alleged Threat Assessment report is not of “nil” date but
that the date and document identification number have both been deliberately
obscured in the photocopy which has been filed; 7. Delete para 2 of Order Dated 17 October
2023 stating that “The Petitioner, who appears in person, states that she has
doubt on the veracity of the aforesaid report”, as this statement was never
made by the Petitioner, and as this statement is a misrepresentation of the
Petitioner’s case, as the case of the Petitioner is that the Threat
Assessment Report document is a forgery and in the alternative, that it is a
sham fraudulent document intended to thwart the Delhi High Court Protection
Order dated 1 June 2023 passed in WP Crl 437/ 2018; 8. Issue notice to all Respondents from 1
to 9 as the serious charge that a forged document is being sought to be
passed off as a Police Threat Assessment Report requires that notice in the
Writ Petition go to senior Police Officers including the Commissioner of
Police and to the Authorities who exercise control and supervision over Delhi
Police, i.e., the Union Home Ministry and the LG of Delhi; 9. Issue notice to Respondent 5
(Additional Commissioner of Police, New Delhi Range) and Respondent 6
(Special Commissioner of Police, Special Cell) as they are expressly
addressed/ mentioned on the alleged Threat Assessment Report that is under
challenge as a forged document; 10. Direct Respondent No. 8 (Secretary,
Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India) to immediately provide full
protection to the Petitioner. 11. To direct the Commissioner of Police to
have the protection orders dated 1 March 2019 passed in Supreme Court Writ
Petition Civil 13/ 2018 and dated 1 June 2023 passed in Dehi High Court WP
Crl 437/ 2018 complied with forthwith in accordance with law; 12. Direct the Respondent No. 7 (Registrar
General, High Court of Delhi) to provide the Petitioner with a copy of the
video recording and the transcript of the Delhi High Court Hearing on 17
October 2023 in Writ Petition Civil No. 13604/2023; 13. To pass such other orders and further
orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of
the case. |
3.
The
Petitioner submits that it has come to her notice that according to the current
prescribed roster for the Delhi High Court, the present Writ Petition ought to
have been listed for hearing before Division Bench I. The present Writ Petition
has been wrongly listed before the present Bench of a Single Judge.
4.
The
Supreme Court has recently in a decision dated 16 October 2023 in the case of
AMBALAL PARIHAR VS. STATE OF RAJASTHAN & ORS cautioned that High Court
Judges should take care to not hear matters not assigned to them by the roster.
The relevant extract from this decision is reproduced below.
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8. Thus, this is a
case of gross abuse of process of law. We wonder how a Civil Writ Petition
for clubbing First Information Reports could be entertained. In the roster
notified by the Chief Justice, there is a separate roster for Criminal Writ
Petitions. If the Courts allow such sharp practices, the roster notified by
the Chief Justice will have no meaning. The Judges have to follow discipline
and ought not to take up any case unless it is specifically assigned by the
Chief Justice. A Judge can take up a case provided either the cases of that
category have been assigned to him as per the notified roster or the
particular case is specifically assigned by the Chief Justice. Taking up a
case not specifically assigned by the Chief Justice is an act of gross
impropriety. Though a Civil Writ Petition was filed, the learned Judge ought to
have converted into a Criminal Writ Petition which could have been placed
only before the roster Judge taking up Criminal Writ Petitions. |
5.
The
current roster of the Delhi High Court is annexed as Annexure 1. According to
the current roster, Division Bench 1 will under item 9. hear all “Misc. Writ Petitions invoking constitutional provisions
and Writ Petitions other than the specified categories.” The present Writ
Petition falls squarely under this item 9.
6.
At
the time of filing of the present Writ Petition, Joint Registrar Filing appears
to have wrongly classified the present Writ Petition as falling under the
category of “MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS PERTAINING TO OTHER
ORGANIZATIONS (INCLUDING STATUTORY ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, PSU'S ETC.)”.
7.
The
Petitioner submits that the main relief sought in the present writ petition is
that the Delhi High Court direct the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court
to register an FIR for forgery for the forged document titled “Threat
Assessment Report” filed in Delhi High Court Writ Petition 437/ 2018 as
Annexure G to an undated Status Report filed in that case through Counsel Anand
Khatri and which alleged Status Report has been allegedly signed by Manoj C. as
DCP South West, Delhi Police. Thus, the main relief sought in the present Writ
Petition is that the Delhi High Court take cognizance of this forgery and the
filing in Court of a forged document and direct the registration of an FIR for
forgery. The relief is not sought against “OTHER ORGANIZATIONS (INCLUDING
STATUTORY ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, PSU'S” and this matter does not pertain
to “OTHER ORGANIZATIONS (INCLUDING STATUTORY ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS,
PSU'S”.
8.
According
to the current roster and the roster applicable on the date of filing of this
Writ Petition and on the date of the first listing of this Writ Petition, the
matters assigned to the Single Judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad
include (under item 1.) “Civil Writ Petitions Misc. including those involving
statutory authorities, DTC, Urban Arts Commission, Airport Authority of India
etc. of 2020,2021, 2022 and 2023”. It is submitted that the present Writ
Petition does not fall under this category as the primary relief sought in the
Writ Petition which defines the very nature of the Writ Petition is a direction
for “the registration of an FIR for forgery of the document filed as Threat
Assessment Report of the Delhi Police in WP Crl 437/2018”. The present Writ
Petition invokes Article 226 of the Constitution of India and even though it
does not expressly mention Article 21, the subject matter of the present Writ
Petition is to protect the right to life of the Petitioner.
9.
The
present Writ Petition falls under item 9. of the roster category of DB-I, i.e.,
under “Misc. Writ Petitions invoking constitutional provisions and Writ
Petitions other than the specified categories.” The present Writ Petition falls
squarely under this item 9 and therefore according to the roster, this case
must be listed before DB-I. It is pointed out that the present Writ Petition is
a Writ Petition other than a specified category and as a residual category it
falls within the roster of DB-I.
10. The Petitioner is
constrained to point out that during physical filing of the present Writ
Petition (as allowed by the Hon’ble Chief Justice), Joint Registrar Filing
wrote the name of Justice Subramonium Prasad on the sheet that he signed for
“passing” the matter after scrutiny. The Petitioner was surprised even then and
questioned him as to why he was selecting a Judge for the matter when that did
not fall within his domain. The Writ Petition was not even registered at that
point and assigning a case to the roster bench is the domain of the Listing
Branch and not the Filing Section. The Joint Registrar Filing tore that sheet
after the Petitioner objected but threatened the Petitioner that he would not “pass”
the matter if the Petitioner objected. The Petitioner therefore kept quiet on
this issue when the Joint Registrar Filing had another print-out taken for this
page and again marked the case to Justice Subramonium Prasad. It is again
reiterated that assigning a case to a category and to a Bench is the job of the
Listing Branch and Officers from the Listing Branch obtain appropriate orders
from the Hon’ble Chief Justice for marking the matter to a particular Bench if
there is any doubt as to roster category. This is not the job of the Joint
Registrar Filing.
11. The Petitioner submits
that it appears that the unauthorised and incorrect actions of Joint Registrar
Filing have resulted in this Writ Petition being wrongly listed before Justice
Subramonium Prasad sitting as a Single Bench instead of being listed before the
correct roster Bench which is Division Bench I.
12. The present
application is in the interest of justice and seeks appropriate corrective
measures.
PRAYER
It is, therefore, most respectfully
prayed that this Hon'ble Court may graciously be pleased to allow this
Application and:-
1.
To direct the Delhi High Court Registry to
place the present Writ Petition (Writ Petition Civil 13604/ 2023) for hearing
before the correct roster Bench which is Division Bench I;
2.
To pass such other orders and further
orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the
case.
FILED
BY:
SEEMA
SAPRA
PETITIONER-IN-PERSON
FILED ON: 1
November 2023
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
ORIGINAL
CIVIL JURISDICTION
CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS
APPLICATION NO OF 2023
IN
WRIT
PETITION CIVIL NO. 13604 OF
2023
IN THE MATTER OF
SEEMA SAPRA … Petitioner
Versus
CP, MR SANJAY
ARORA AND ORS
.. RESPONDENTS
AFFIDAVIT
I, Seema Sapra,
D/o Late A. R. Sapra, presently living on rent in premises in Rajokri, Delhi (in
Maa Ganga Vidyalaya Lane, opposite gali no. 3) and being targeted, do hereby
solemnly state and affirm as under:
1. That I am the Petitioner
and am familiar with the facts and circumstances of the case and am competent
and authorized to swear this Affidavit.
2. That I have
drafted, read and understood the accompanying Application for listing this Writ
Petition before the correct roster Bench along with other prayers and I state
that the contents of the application are based on my personal knowledge and on
other sources which I believe to be true and correct.
DEPONENT
VERIFICATION:
I, the above-named
Deponent, do hereby verify that the contents of the above Affidavit are true
and correct to my knowledge, no part of it is false and nothing material has
been concealed there from.
Verified at New
Delhi on this 1st day of November 2023.
DEPONENT
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