The Court was hearing a plea by Venkataramana seeking to quash the criminal case registered against him. The complainant alleged that he had engaged the Senior Advocate as his counsel in a land dispute matter. He had initially paid ₹30 lakh as fee to Venkataramana, after which the lawyer did not pursue the case.
According to the complainant, Venkataramana demanded a sum of ₹7 crore, assuring him that this money would be used to bribe High Court judges and ensure a favourable outcome in his case. Venkataramana allegedly said that he had bribed judges earlier as well. The complainant agreed to pay the sum.
However, Venkataramana failed to appear in the case, and when the complainant demanded the return of money paid, the lawyer refused to do so. Venkataramana allegedly also hurled caste-based abuses and threatened to harm the complainant’s family.
Subsequently, a case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and Sections 3(2)(va) and 3(1)(r) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was registered against the lawyer.
Source: Barandbench
