TMI Blog2020 (8) TMI 883X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n certain newspaper reports. This Court in a series of decisions has repeatedly held that the newspaper item without any further proof is of no evidentiary value. The said principle laid down has thereafter been taken note in several public interest litigations to reject the allegations contained in the petition supported by newspaper report. In the case on hand, the Petitioner is a lawyer by profession who practices in Mumbai and has come up by way of Public Interest Litigation. Therefore, the allegations of bias made by him against the members of the Commission merely on the basis of newspaper reports and nothing more, are liable to be rejected outright. The Petitioner herein is an advocate who practices law in Mumbai, Maharashtra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... etition was taken up for consideration certain other developments had occurred, inasmuch as the said Vikas Dubey was killed by the police in an alleged encounter. Along with the said writ petition, certain other writ petitions which were also filed in public interest seeking for an appropriate enquiry in that regard were tagged. All the related writ petitions were taken up for consideration together. The State Government in a reply filed to the said writ petitions, apart from referring to the other aspects of the matter had also indicated that the Government having taken serious cognizance of all the events, apart from constituting a Special Investigation Team had also constituted a Commission of Inquiry under the Commission of Inquiries Ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... egard has relied upon an Article published in The Wire dated 29.07.2020. 4. We have heard the Petitioner-in-person and perused the petition papers. 5. At the outset it is necessary to notice that the Petitioner herein had filed the applications in I.A. No. 68207/2020 and I.A. No. 67940/2020 after the constitution of the Inquiry Commission raising certain objections with regard to Shri K.L. Gupta being the Member of the Commission since according to the Petitioner he had made certain comments in favour of the police in the interview given to the media. This Court having considered the same and on not finding it objectionable, dismissed the application through the order dated 28.07.2020 holding the application to be devoid of meri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tempt to verify their authenticity. As observed by this Court in several cases, newspaper reports do not constitute evidence. A petition based on unconfirmed news reports, without verifying their authenticity should not normally be entertained. As noted above, such petitions do not provide any basis for verifying the correctness of statements made and information given in the petition. 7. This Court in the case of Rohit Pandey v. Union of India (2005) 13 SCC 702 while considering the petition purporting to be in public interest filed by a Member of the Legal Fraternity had come down heavily on the Petitioner since the said petition was based only on two newspaper reports without further verification. 8. In the above backdrop, in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... CC 521, to the extent of holding that the findings of the Inquiry Commission are not binding on the Court, while dealing with an appeal arising out of conviction and sentence of a police officer. The police officer who was the Appellant before this Court in the said case sought to rely upon the findings of the Inquiry Commission that the victim of custodial violence could have sustained injuries prior to his arrest. But this Court refused to rely upon the findings of the Inquiry Commission to overturn the conviction of the police officer. 11. In K. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy v. Government of Andhra Pradesh AIR 1996 AP 62, a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court had an occasion to deal with the challenge to the appointment of a one- ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es, the Andhra Pradesh High Court rejected the challenge made by a former Chief Minister of the state, to the appointment of a retired Judge as one-man Commission to inquire into certain alleged irregularities committed by him while in office. 13. Thus, even in a case where the Petitioner before the Court was a person against whom the Commission of Inquiry was constituted, the Court applied strict standards, for testing the allegation of personal bias against the Inquiry Commission. 14. In the case on hand, the Petitioner is a lawyer by profession who practices in Mumbai and has come up by way of Public Interest Litigation. Therefore, the allegations of bias made by him against the members of the Commission merely on the basis of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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