RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Nov.8: Former advocate general (AG) of Jharkhand and a senior advocate of Jharkhand High Court Ajit Kumar landed in controversy after he appeared as defence lawyer in the bail matter in which he had appeared as prosecution lawyer in the capacity of AG.
The case is related to former legislator and Congress leader Yogendra Sao. An FIR (228/16) was registered in this connection at Barkagaon police station of Hazaribagh district in 2016. Sao has been in jail in this connection for the last three years.
The appearance of Kumar, who has been AG during the tenure of ex-CM Raghubar Das, before the court of Justice R.Mukhopadhyay to save the Congress party leader had taken place before Diwali vacation. The matter came to the fore two days ago after it appeared in a vernacular daily and a section of advocates including chairman of State Bar Council Rajendra Krishna took serious note of its taking it as a matter of ethics.
Contacted Kumar for his comment on the matter he admitted the situation saying he has decided not to appear in the case in the future.
“The matter is already in my knowledge. The way it is being presented, I will not appear in the case in the future. Otherwise, my intention was just to communicate with the court regarding the changing circumstances of the case to ensure justice,” Kumar said.
Asked how come this became possible, Kumar said: “Lawmaker and lawyer Amba Prasad, who also knows about my prior position and well acquainted with the present circumstance requested me to appear as she found me the best person to save his father (read Yogendra Sao), who is in jail. She told me that informant of the case in which his father is in jail for three years had denied the presence of his father at the place of occurrence. “
Asked why he appeared to defend Sao when he had appeared in his opposition, Kumar gave several justifications.
“I remained AG for three years and prior to this, I remained AAG for many years. Several thousand cases must have passed before me. Today when I am not AG or AAG, it is difficult for me to remember in which case I had appeared in the capacity of AG or AAG until someone reminds me. Apart from this, I also found that many circumstances have changed in the case. I also found that the accused had already spent three years in jail in the matter in which a punishment of hardly five years can be awarded,” advocate Kumar said.
Kumar while pleading ignorance expressed his concern over the way the matter of his appearance was being presented in public.
“If the state government or government lawyers had any problem taking my appearance without any fee to defend Sao, it could have objected to me before the court. But this did not happen and the matter came before me through the media,” Kumar said before saying that ‘it is a matter of pride for me that the party, against whom I had argued earlier, has faith in me.
