Two arrested for posting wrong info on SC website

Two Supreme Court staffers have been arrested for allegedly posting wrong information on the apex court's website related to a case involving Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani, sources said Monday. The duo allegedly uploaded an order, which said Ambani's presence in a case had been dispensed with, despite the court ordering that he be present for the next hearing, they said.

Senior officers refused to comment on the matter. The accused, identified as Manav Sharma and Tapan Kumar Chakraborty, who were arrested on Sunday were dismissed earlier by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the sources added.

The duo was produced before the Patiala house court Monday and police have got their remand for seven days. Sharma, who is in his 40's, while Chakraborty, who was about to retire next year, were working as court masters.

A case of cheating and forgery was registered on March 1 after a complaint was received from the additional registrar of the Supreme Court. The duo is being interrogated, they added.

The SC had sacked the two court officials for tampering with its January 7 order on the issue of personal appearance of Ambani in connection with the contempt against him. Justice Gogoi has passed directions to terminate the services of the two court officials who were responsible for noting the judge's orders and getting them uploaded on the apex court's website.

A bench, headed by Justice R F Nariman, has been hearing three contempt applications filed by Swedish telecom group Ericsson against Ambani and others for not clearing its dues. Justice Nariman, who was dealing with Ambani's case, had forwarded a complaint to the CJI that the order in the matter for the presence of the contemnor was not properly found in it.

The order dictated had stated that the personal appearance of the alleged contemnor(s) is not dispensed with, but it found the word 'not' was missing. The discrepancy in this regard was brought to the notice of the bench on January 10 by senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who was appearing for Ericsson.

Taking note of the fact, an order was passed by the Chief Justice on administrative side dismissing the two employees. PTI SLB AMP KJ

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