Cuttack, Oct. 5: Orissa High Court has ruled that 'justice is not a bounty which can be given to any one just because he desires it'. The court held that 'a person who tries to cheat and thwart justice without justification does not deserve justice'.

'Portals of the court of justice would not be opened on the knocking of unclean hands with unfair methods. The stream of justice is clear and pure and it cannot be allowed to be polluted by unscrupulous litigants and, therefore, the seeker's approach for justice should be with clean mind, clean heart and clean objective,' observed the single-judge bench of Justice S.K. Sahoo.

Justice Sahoo gave the ruling while adjudicating on a petition filed 13 years ago by the prime accused in a sensational murder case at the Bhub-aneswar Stock Exchange.

The prime accused, Hidayat Khan, had on March 30, 1995, allegedly entered the office chamber of one Binod Agarwal and fired one shot on his chest and killed him on the spot.

Investigation in the alleged supari killing case was completed after seven years and the charge sheet was submitted against prime accused Hidayat and five others on June 22, 2002.

Among the co-accused were Tulsidas Bhayan, Arun Giridhar, Anjani Singh - former president, vice-president and treasurer of the Bhubaneswar Stock Exchange, respectively. The two other co-accused were Hidayat's aides Raju Giri and Bimal Lohar, who were present at the time of murder.

As Bimal died on December 31, 1996, the other four co-accused persons faced trial in the murder case. The Additional Sessions' Judge Court, Bhubaneswar, acquitted all the four on January 31, 2004.

Subsequently, Hidayat, who was absconding, filed a petition in the high court in the same year for quashing of criminal proceeding pending against him on the ground of acquittal of the co-accused by the trial court.

The high court rejected his petition on September 26, 2017.

'Absconding accused cannot be given premium to frustrate the justice or to misuse the process of law by treating him at par with those accused who have shown respect for legal processes and have appeared and have not evaded their arrest,' Justice Sahoo ruled in his order.

Justice Sahoo further said that 'it would be a travesty of justice' to accept the plea of a prime accused 'who remains as an absconder, watches the criminal proceedings in respect of the co-accused persons' and after their acquittal by the trial court seeks the same benefit.

According to the text of the judgment, the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Bhubaneswar, had issued a production warrant against Hidayat, who was in police custody at Tatanagar in Jharkhand in connection with another case. But, Jharkhand High Court had on December 5, 2003, directed his release with a direction to him to surrender in the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Bhubaneswar.

Thereafter, Hidayat had not surrendered in the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Bhubaneswar.

'It is not known why expeditious steps were not taken in bringing the petitioner (Hidayat Khan) on remand when he was detained in another murder case at Tatanagar. However, the interest of justice demands that such acts or omissions of the officers of the prosecution should not be taken in favour of the petitioner, for that would amount to giving premium for the wrongs of the prosecution designedly committed to favour the petitioner,' Justice Sahoo said.

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