Delhi Police arrests two SC officials for allegedly posting wrong order in Anil Ambani-Ericsson case

Delhi Police Monday arrested two officials of the Supreme Court for allegedly posting an order on the court’s website that said Reliance Communications chief Anil Ambani’s presence in the case had been dispensed with, instead of stating that it had not been dispensed with. The arrested men identified as court master Manav Sharma and assistant registrar Tapan Kumar Chakraborty were sacked by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi following a complaint that they tampered with an order of the court directing personal presence of Anil Ambani in a contempt case. A senior police officer had registered an FIR after they received a complaint from the administration department of the Supreme Court. “During the investigation, we found some concrete evidence against them and they could not provide a satisfactory answer to the investigators,” the officer said. The incident, which led to the development, dates to January 7 when a bench of Justices R F Nariman and Vineet Sharan directed Anil Ambani’s personal presence on the contempt plea by Swedish telecom group Ericsson. However, the order uploaded on the court’s official website said “personal appearance of the alleged contemnor(s) is dispensed with”, indicating that Ambani would not have to appear in court on the next day of the hearing. This was subsequently “revised” and a new document was uploaded. It said, “personal appearance of the alleged contemnor(s) is not dispensed with”. The digital signature on the order shows it was uploaded on January 9. Sources said Ericsson counsel had taken up the issue with the court following which the employees were suspended pending enquiry. Source: Indian Express