After being slapped with a hefty fine of Rs 25 lakh in December 2017 by the top court for filing a PIL demanding judicial probe into a medical college bribery scam involving a sitting Orissa high court judge, the NGO Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform (CJAR) deposited the amount with the court making a parallel request to recall the order imposing cost.
The application moved by CJAR will come up before a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar on Wednesday. The NGO while depositing the demand draft of Rs 25 lakh said that it wanted the money to be utilized by the Supreme Court Bar Association Welfare Fund to help lawyers affected by the pandemic.
At the same time, it pointed out that the December 1, 2017 order dismissing the PIL filed by the NGO as “frivolous” proved to be wrong subsequently. Explaining the delay to deposit the amount, the NGO said that the working committee (of CJAR) felt that despite lack of funds, the SC Bar Association Welfare Fund was currently in need of funds to help advocates who have suffered due to lack of work during the pandemic and hence decided to deposit the cost “despite the unfairness of it”.