Cash for verdict allegations: Kerala HC directs advocate to cooperate with probe

Kidangoor has moved the high court seeking an order to prevent his arrest but it was sidelined by justice Kauser Edappagath who refused to pass any interim order

The Kerala high court on Tuesday directed advocate Saiby Jose Kidangoor, accused of collecting money from clients for allegedly bribing high court judges, to appear before the investigating officer as and when required and cooperate with the probe in the bribery case.

(Representative Photo)

Kidangoor has moved the high court seeking an order to prevent his arrest but it was sidelined by justice Kauser Edappagath who refused to pass any interim order.

Justice Edappagath had last week turned down his plea to quash the case saying the allegations were too serious. “Allegations are serious. It is something that is maligning the entire justice delivery system,” the judge had observed.

After his plea came up on Tuesday, his counsel S Sreekumar said Kidangoor will follow the directions of the court and sought an interim order against his possible arrest to which the prosecution contended that the investigation was at a preliminary stage and there was no plan to arrest him now.

Justice Edapaggath posted the case for further hearing after two weeks. “Let the truth come out. It is beneficial to you as well,” the court told the petitioner.

Kidangoor has been embroiled in controversy since the allegations made against him by his fellow lawyers started gaining momentum on social media. The matter came to light on February 1st and amid the allegations, the court directed the vigilance wing of the high court to initiate an enquiry.

Lawyers have alleged that Kidangoor had been collecting money from some clients for allegedly bribing high court judges to get the verdict in his favour.

After some “cash for verdict allegations” surfaced police registered a case against Kidangoor under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Amid the complaint filed by the registrar of the high court to state police chief Anil Kant against Kidangoor, the Kochi police commissioner constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter. Later, six senior lawyers also gave their statements supporting a thorough inquiry into charges against Kidangoor.

However, Kidangoor has claimed that a conspiracy is being hatched to defame him and false cases were registered against him. Meanwhile, amid the cash-in-verdict allegations, Kidangoor resigned as president of the Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association (KHCAA).

Last month the high court recalled its order granting pre-arrest bail to two accused in a case registered under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in which Kidangoor represented the accused. Similarly, last week the high court vacated a stay granted to trial against Malayalam actor Unni Mukundan in a sexual assault case after the complainant in the case informed the court that she did not sign any document to settle the case out of court.

The case against the actor relates to a complaint filed by a woman in 2017 accusing him of sexual assault and misbehaviour when she went to discuss a story with him in his flat in Kochi.

A stay was granted by the court in May 2021, Kidangoor, who was the counsel for the accused, submitted an affidavit saying the issue was sorted out of the court by two. However, after the cash-for-verdict case against Kidangoor, the complainant said she never signed any papers to settle it.

A single bench of Justice K Babu had observed that if the allegations raised by the complainant are true, Mukundan and his counsel will be answerable for submitting false documents which is a criminal offence.