IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Just came across this IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Criminal Contempt No. 7/2007 Court on its own motion …Petitioner Vs. State and Others …Respondents INDEX S.No. PARTICULARS PAGES 1. Affidavit in reply on behalf of Mr. M.K. Tayal RESPONDENT THROUGH: PRASHANT BHUSHAN ADVOCATE IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Criminal Contempt No. 7/2007 Court on its own motion …Petitioner Vs. State and Others …Respondents Affidavit in reply on behalf of Mr. M.K. Tayal 1. I, M.K. Tayal, Son of Shri Deep Singh Tayal, the resident of 92-C/II, Vaishali, Ghaziabad, do hereby solemnly state and affirm as under: -- 2. I am the City Editor of Mid-Day in Delhi, and my response to the contempt notice is as follows. 3. That the story in question carried by Mid-Day newspaper on the 18th of May 2007, was a follow up of an earlier story carried by the same newspaper on 2 May 2007. In the issue of 2 May 2007, we had carried a story titled “Injustice” which essentially said that the former Chief Justice of India Justice Y.K. Sabharwal’s sons owned three commercial companies, Pawan Impex, Sug Exports, and Sabs Exports whose registered offices were at the Punjabi Bagh residence of Justice Sabharwal, at the time when he was ordering the sealing of commercial premises running from residential areas. 4. Further investigation into the matter by the reporters of Mid-Day led to the discovery of some further startling facts. It was discovered that these companies had shifted their registered office to the official residence of Justice Sabharwal at 6, Moti Lal Nehru Place for about 10 months during 2004 while Justice Sabharwal was a judge of the Supreme Court of India. 5. Further investigation into the matter also revealed that on October 23, 2004, one Kabul Chawla, who happens to be the promoter and owner of Business Park Town Planners (BPTP), a real estate development company which had promoted and developed a large number of shopping malls and commercial complexes in the city of Delhi, became a director in one of the companies promoted by Justice Sabharwal's sons called Pawan Impex Pvt. Ltd. At the same time, the registered office of this company was shifted back from the official residence of Justice Sabharwal, to his personal residence at Punjabi Bagh. Soon thereafter on February 12, 2005, the wife of Kabul Chawla, Anjali Chawla was also inducted as a director of this company. 6. Soon after the Chawlas were inducted as directors, in June 2006, both Kabul Chawla and his wife Anjali Chawla acquired 750,000 shares each in Pawan Impex Pvt Ltd. At this time the Share capital of Pawan Impex was increased from Rs. 1 Lakh to Rs. 3 Crores. Thus, as on 31st of September 2006, the shareholding in Pawan Impex Pvt. Ltd. was equally divided between the two sons of Justice Sabharwal and Kabul Chawla and his wife Anjali. Each of them owned 750,000 shares each in this company promoted by Justice Sabharwal's sons. Thus the Chawlas, who are one of the main promoters of shopping malls in Delhi, became equal partners in the Company of Justice Sabharwal’s sons. 7. The documents also showed that soon after the share capital of Pawan Impex was increased from Rs. 1 Lakh to Rs. 3 Crores (after the induction of the Chawlas and their investment in the company), the company took a loan of Rs. 28 Crores from the Union Bank of India at F14/15 Connaught Place (who happens to be a tenant of BPTP of the Chawlas). 8. The documentary evidence attesting to the above facts discovered on investigation by the reporters of Midday was obtained from the official website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs of the Government of India. This website contains the documents which have been filed by Pawan Impex Pvt. Ltd. regarding the shareholding, the directors, and the changes in the registered address of these companies. Copies of these documents attesting to the above facts as obtained by Mid-Day from the official website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs of the Government of India have been annexed with the Affidavit of Mrs. Vitusha Oberoi, Editor of Mid-Day Delhi and the Deponent craves liberty to refer to an rely upon the said annexures. 9. The story of Mid-Day in question is based on the above documents and legitimate inferences which can be made from these documents. There had earlier been a number of reports and allegations that the Shopping Mall developers stood to gain enormously from the sealing of shops and commercial establishments functioning from residential areas which took place on Justice Sabharwal’s orders. As responsible journalists we thought it to be our public duty to bring the above facts to the knowledge of the people, which appeared to show judicial impropriety at the highest level. We also spoke to some senior lawyers of the country who almost unanimously opined that if the above facts were true, the matter needed further investigation in public interest. Their comments as given to us were also carried by us in Mid-Day. 10. That recently, there have been a number of reports about Corruption in the Judiciary and the country has been exercised on the issue of judicial accountability. There have also been other reports about improper allotments of Plots in Noida to Justice Sabharwal’s daughter in law which were also reported widely in the media. These reports were based on statements made by a Cabinet Minister and Senior advocate of the Supreme Court. It was in these circumstances, that we felt that it was our public duty to bring the above facts to the knowledge of the people of this country. There was no malicious intention on our part to bring down the reputation of the judiciary. However, the facts discovered by us presented a disturbing picture of judicial impropriety in a particular case which we felt, needed to be brought to the attention of the people since it involves matter of enormous public interest. 11. All the documents pertaining to the contents of this affidavit have been annexed with the Affidavit of Mrs. Vitusha Oberoi and the Deponent craves the leave of this Hon’ble Court to refer to and rely upon the same. DEPONENT Verification: I, the deponent abovenamed do hereby verify that the contents of the above affidavit are true and correct to my knowledge and nothing material is concealed therefrom. Verified at New Delhi on this the 25th Day of May, 2007. DEPONENT