Bar Council chief 145;forges146; note, in soup on bail plea

Additional Advocate General C.M. Munjal, who is the chairman of the Bar Council of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, is in the dock for all...

Additional Advocate General C.M. Munjal, who is the chairman of the Bar Council of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, is in the dock for allegedly forging a note to secure pre-arrest bail for Anil Midha, an accused in a criminal case at Abohar.

The HC has sealed the note and sought an explanation from Munjal, who tendered an unconditional apology today. The matter will now be taken up on Wednesday. The 8216;8216;forgery8217;8217; came to light in the court of Justice M M Kumar, when he got a letter from Abohar referring to oral orders granting pre-arrest bail. Justice Kumar, in his orders on December 1, observed that he received a letter from Archit Goyal, a resident of Abohar, stating that his court had passed oral directions in a criminal case, staying the arrest of the petitioner when the case could not be heard on November 2.

The letter said the petition seeking interim pre-arrest bail was to be heard in the court of Justice Kumar on November 2, 2004. But due to paucity of time, it was adjourned to December 9.

8216;8216;C M Munjal, who appeared on behalf of the State of Punjab has written with his own hands that the High Court has orally ordered not to arrest Anil Midha till the next date of hearing,8217;8217; the order mentioned. It further added that the police refused to arrest the accused on the basis of the above note.

After summoning the case file, Justice Kumar said: 8216;8216;On perusal, I found that neither was the case taken up for hearing on November 2, nor were any such oral orders passed. Besides, this court doesn8217;t allow the practice of issuing oral orders for staying arrest.8217;8217;

He further directed the office to register the letter of complaint as a separate criminal petition, with directions to Chief Judicial Magistrate CJM Abohar to take custody of the police file and the note. He also asked them to put the record in a sealed cover and send it to the court by December 6. He directed Munjal to remain present in the court to explain his conduct.