DATE: 21.072026
COURT: High Court of Delhi
BENCH: Justice Mini Pushkarna
FACTS:
These contempt
petitions (CONT.CAS(C) 1204/2022, 1355/2024 and 350/2025) were filed alleging
non-compliance by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) with earlier court
directions to take action against unauthorized construction in properties
located at B-143, B-147, A-126 and A-46, Panchsheel Vihar, New Delhi, as well
as properties in Village Shekh Sarai, Panchsheel Vihar and Village Khidki,
Malviya Nagar, New Delhi.
During the hearing,
the Court was confronted with shocking revelations of a systematic scam. A
compliance report filed by the SHO, Police Station Malviya Nagar, indicated a
nexus among certain individuals who misused the judicial process by filing
petitions (including a PIL under the name of Universal Human Right Foundation)
to obtain demolition orders and thereafter approached the owners of the
affected properties to extract money. Mr. Narayan Kumar Kashyap, the purported
signatory of the original PIL, appeared and stated that he had been approached
by Advocate S.K. Shukla, introduced to Naresh Chauhan and his son Advocate
Prashant Chauhan, and persuaded to sign the PIL on the pretext of helping
resolve a personal dispute with one Sushil Chauhan. He claimed he had no
knowledge of subsequent proceedings and that his signatures appearing on the
two later contempt petitions and supporting affidavits were forged.
ISSUES:
Whether the contempt
petitions were bona fide proceedings aimed at enforcing court directions
against unauthorized construction, or whether they formed part of a deliberate
scheme to misuse and abuse the process of the Court for the purpose of
extorting money from property owners, and what consequential directions were
required against the persons involved.
JUDGEMENT WITH REASONING:
The Delhi High Court
disposed of the contempt petitions after recording the serious abuse of process
and issued directions referring the matter to the Bar Council of Delhi for
investigation against Advocates S.K. Shukla and Prashant Chauhan, directing the
Bar Council to contact Mr. Narayan Kumar Kashyap, and referring the matter to
the Deputy Commissioner of Police, South District, for appropriate
investigation, including the lodging of an FIR, with liberty to proceed against
any other persons found involved.
The Court observed
that the facts disclosed a carefully orchestrated misuse of the judicial
process. Petitions purporting to be in public interest or for enforcement of
earlier demolition directions were being filed not for genuine redressal of
unauthorized construction but as instruments of pressure. Once court orders
were obtained, the same set of persons approached the property owners to
extract money under the threat of demolition. The compliance report of the
local police and the statements of Mr. Narayan Kumar Kashyap established a
clear nexus among the named individuals and demonstrated that the process of
the Court was being converted into a tool for illegal enrichment. Such conduct
strikes at the root of the administration of justice and cannot be
countenanced.
In these
circumstances, the Court considered it necessary to initiate institutional and
criminal scrutiny rather than continue with the contempt proceedings on their
purported merits. Referring the advocates to the Bar Council of Delhi was
required so that professional misconduct could be examined, while simultaneous
reference to the police was necessary for investigation into forgery,
conspiracy and extortion. The Court expressly left it open to the investigating
agency to proceed against any other persons who might be found involved. Having
issued these protective and investigative directions, the Court disposed of the
contempt petitions, thereby preventing further abuse of its process while
ensuring that the underlying allegations of criminality and professional
misconduct are thoroughly probed.
ANALYSIS:
The decision
underscores the Delhi High Court's uncompromising approach towards safeguarding
the integrity of the judicial process by recognizing that contempt jurisdiction
cannot be permitted to become a vehicle for private coercion or financial gain.
While contempt proceedings ordinarily serve to secure compliance with judicial
directions, the Court correctly shifted its focus once credible material
revealed that the litigation itself had allegedly been conceived as part of an
extortion racket. By relying upon the police compliance report and the
statement of the purported petitioner, who denied knowledge of subsequent
proceedings and alleged forgery of his signatures, the Court acknowledged that
abuse of judicial remedies poses a greater threat to the administration of
justice than the original subject matter of the litigation. The judgment
therefore reinforces the principle that courts possess an inherent obligation
not merely to adjudicate disputes but also to protect their own processes from
manipulation by litigants or legal practitioners acting with ulterior motives.
The judgment is
equally significant for its institutional response to professional and criminal
misconduct. Instead of limiting its intervention to dismissal of the contempt
petitions, the Court adopted a coordinated approach by referring the advocates
concerned to the Bar Council of Delhi for disciplinary examination while
simultaneously directing the police to investigate offences such as forgery,
conspiracy and extortion. This dual mechanism reflects the recognition that
abuse of the judicial system requires accountability on both professional and
criminal fronts. The decision also serves as a cautionary precedent that public
interest litigation and proceedings seeking enforcement of court orders cannot
be exploited as instruments of intimidation against property owners. By
directing a comprehensive investigation and permitting action against all
persons found involved, the Court reaffirmed that preserving public confidence
in the justice delivery system necessitates swift and decisive action against those
who seek to convert judicial proceedings into tools for unlawful enrichment.
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