Kerala HC recalls bail order amid row over lawyer’s bribery claims

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Kerala high court judge has recalled his order granting bail to two accused in a SC/ST Act case, amid allegations that the lawyer who represented the petitioners had claimed he could bribe judges to get favourable orders, people familiar with the matter said.

Senior high court lawyer Saiby Jose Kidangoor, who is also the president of the Kerala high court advocates’ association, has been accused of demanding huge sum of money from his clients, including some high-profile names, claiming he could “influence judges”.

Though the accusation against the senior lawyer first surfaced late last year, it further escalated after the vigilance wing of the court earlier this month reportedly found the allegation to be true and sought a detailed police inquiry into the matter, senior lawyers said. “Some of the judges of the high court have sought a detailed probe into these charges, which, they said would affect credibility of the whole judicial system,” a senior lawyer said.

Meanwhile, the high court registrar has collected details of cases represented by Kidangoor and submitted them to the police.

On Saturday, Kochi police commissioner K Sethuraman recorded statements of 14 people, including Kidangoor, and submitted a report to Kerala’s director general of police (DGP) Anil Kant. “The police will file a case against him (Kidangoor) once they get nod from the high court,” a police officer said, declining to be named. “The high court is expected to take a call on this on Monday.”

Kidangoor was not available for a comment. Last week, Kidangoor repeatedly denied the allegations against him, calling them “baseless and fabricated”, while claiming he only took consultation and lawyer fees from clients. The allegations surfaced after a film producer, an accused in an alleged sexual assault case involving another Kerala film actor, claimed in Kochi last year that he had to cough up huge amount of money to procure a pre-arrest bail. Kidangoor was his lawyer. There were also allegations that Kidangoor took the name of three HC judges, claiming he could bribe them to get “favourable” orders.

KIDANGOOR HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF DEMANDING A LOT OF MONEY FROM CLIENTS, CLAIMING THAT HE COULD ‘INFLUENCE JUDGES’