Chandigarh, August 31: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear to the Bar members that the litigants should bring demand drafts and not cash to the courts, where the amount was required to be paid for settlement of disputes or for other purposes.
Justice AB Chaudhari also directed the lawyers to take note of a judicial order, in which the process of bringing cash to the court was denounced by the Bench. The developments took place on a regular bail petition filed by one Babu Ram Arora against the Punjab Government.
The matter had reached the high court after a case for cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery and other offences was registered in June, 2014, at New Baradari police station in Jalandhar under Sections 419, 420, 120-B, 406, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 506 of the IPC.The petitioner had allegedly attested an agreement of sale as a witness. His counsel had submitted before the Bench that there were chances of amicably resolving the dispute. A counsel also put in appearance on behalf of the complainant since the inception to oppose the application for bail.During the course of hearing, the counsel for the petitioner stated that Rs 4 lakh in cash had been brought in the court. Taking a stern view of the action, Justice Chaudhari categorically asserted: “Such practice is wholly deprecated. The petitioner ought to have brought demand draft of the amount. It is made clear that hereinafter, the counsel for the petitioner would not bring cash amounts in the court”.The Bench also directed the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association to take note of such practices. The case will now come up for hearing on November 1.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
