Delhi HC Bar Association ex-president fined `40K in woman lawyer assault case

New Delhi, Nov. 30: A Delhi court Tuesday let off Delhi High Court Bar Association’s (DHCBA) ex-president Rajiv Khosla, convicted for assaulting a woman lawyer in 1994, with a total compensation of `40,000 to the state and the victim. The order on sentencing was pronounced in a courtroom thronged by hundreds of lawyers.

While few lawyers stood atop tables and chairs to hear the pronouncement, others chanted slogans of “Vakeel Ekta Zindabad” and “Rajiv Khosla Zindabad” and applauded after the order.

Khosla was convicted last month in the assault case for offences punishable under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the India Penal Code (IPC). Complainant Sujata Kohli had alleged that Khosla grabbed her by her hair and dragged her in August 1994.

The maximum punishment under these sections entails jail term of up to two years. Kohli, who was a lawyer at Tis Hazari court at that time, went on to become a judge in the Delhi judiciary and retired as a district and sessions judge last year.

Chief metropolitan magistrate Gajender Singh Nagar ordered: “For 323 IPC, Khosla has to pay a compensation of `20,000 - `10,000 each to state and victim and for 506 IPC, he has to pay `20, 000 - `10, 000 each to state and victim within one month.?

Kohli, who appeared through the video conference said that post-judgment, Khosla used unparliamentary language against the court and the judge. “Why is he being allowed to enter the court with a crowd? He is here with hundreds of lawyers. The convict is, again and again, reflecting that he has no regard for rule of law. He loves to abuse the court,” she said.

Advocate Sangwa rebutted saying that his client neither used unparliamentary langue in the court nor threatened her or tampered with the witnesses. “Khosla has earned the goodwill,” he told the court.