Petition against Asthana's appointment as CP copied from Bhushan's plea in SC: HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Thursday termed as copy-paste a petition filed before it challenging the appointment of IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner and warned the petitioner that such activity shall not be repeated in the future.

The high court also expressed anguish that the lawyer for the petitioner was unable to explain the averments made in the petition which were allegedly copied.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said this petition is entirely copied, including full stop and comma, from another plea filed with similar prayers before the Supreme Court and added that if the petitioner wants to file something he shall do it independently.

It said that the lawyer, who is the author of the petition which has been copied, is waiting in the queue to argue.

The high court was hearing a PIL by Sadre Alam, a lawyer, against the appointment of Asthana along with an intervention application by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, which has challenged the appointment before the Supreme Court.

All these things you have copied from the memo of the senior advocate (referring to Bhushan). If you are copying, you do it 5 per cent and write 95 per cent of your own. Here, 97 to 99 per cent is copied even with all the full stops and commas. Don't do this in the future we have tolerated it this time, the bench said.

To this, advocate B S Bagga, appearing for the petitioner, said I don't know from where these allegations have come from .

Earlier, Bhushan had contended that Alam's petition was mala fide and a complete copy-paste of his plea pending before the apex court.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Centre, was also in agreement with Bhushan and had said this practice of copy-paste must be deprecated.

During the day's hearing, when Bagga started his argument on inter cadre transfer, the chief justice asked him what he meant by super time scale .

The court repeatedly asked the same question which he was unable to explain and sought time to check and come back.

We are asking you for the last time, we will dismiss the petition with costs. You have copied from his memo that is the problem. Without understanding, you are reading. Now we want an additional explanation. What is the super time scale, the bench said.

While addressing Bhushan, the bench said, you people are also distributing your copies everywhere. Don't do this. He does not know what is super time scale is. You are doing it in good faith but it becomes a weapon. I have asked the question deliberately. What assistance we will get? This is how in the Delhi High Court we are getting the assistance.

While dictating the order, the bench said, counsel appearing in started with an argument on inter cadre transfer. He simply read over paragraphs without explaining anything. When the word super time scale' was read, we asked a question whether he can explain or not and the counsel for the petitioner was unable to explain what is the meaning of super time scale in the service jurisprudence.

The counsel sought time and the court listed the matter for further hearing on September 27.