HC BAR SEEKS HARYANA AG’S APPROVAL ON CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST KHEMKA

CHANDIGARH: : The Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association (PHHCBA) on Thursday wrote to advocate general (AG), Haryana, seeking his nod to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka for allegedly using derogatory language against a lawyer.

The lawyer, Jagtej Singh Kang had appeared before Khemka on November 17, when the latter was holding a court as financial commissioner (revenue). Khemka, when approached, refused to comment. The 1991batch IAS officer has been transferred over 50 times in 30 years of his service. Khemka has had run-ins with successive governments on various issues.

As per the plea, Khemka allegedly misbehaved with the lawyer when he was holding a court against which the lawyer had approached the Bar body the same day.

During the court proceedings itself Khemka used “highly unparliamentarily language” and “humiliated and harassed” the lawyer while performing quasi-judicial functions, the plea says, adding that the words were so derogatory that they did not even deserve to find a mention in the plea.

The plea further alleges that Khemka also used abusive language against entire lawyers’ community and also passed “unwanted remarks” against the judiciary which needed to be dealt with an iron hand.

Terming his act as criminal contempt of court, the Bar body has asked the AG, Haryana, BR Mahajan to accord his approval to initiate proceedings under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and refer the matter to the high court for adjudication.