New Delhi,February 1: Abusing the process of law by questioning investigating agencies and maligning the judiciary has cost a non-resident Indian (NRI) Rs.20,000. The Delhi High Court order came on a plea of NRI N.S. Hoon seeking compensation of Rs.5,000 crore from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly implicating him in a criminal case. He sought action against the erring officials of CBI for harassing him for 25 years. Justice M.L. Mehta said: “In the present petition, not only the CBI and police are questioned but even the judiciary and the government are sought to be maligned in a highly derogatory and utterly contemptuous manner. The unparliamentary language used by the petitioner is evident by words like ‘slave magistrate’, ‘obliging judge’, ‘corrupt CBI’.” The court said that such petitions were nothing but a waste of precious judicial time and mockery of the legal process. “The conduct of the petitioner is highly condemnable and deserves no consideration even due to his age as he has unabatedly abused the process of law in intimidating and obstructing public officials from discharging their duties,” the court said. Hoon, who had acquired British citizenship, had argued that the officers of CBI acted against him at the instance of some influential people and they should be prosecuted under law. He claimed to have undergone mental agony and physical suffering in the past 25 years and sought financial compensation. “I was arrested on May 14, 1987 despite an anticipatory bail order from the Delhi High Court. They seized my passport for such a long time causing huge losses to my business abroad,” Hoon said. He added even the trial court had acquitted him from all the charges under the Foreigners Act. According to the CBI, Hoon concealed his identity as a British citizen during his stay in two different hotels, in 1986-87, which was a criminal offence. The CBI alleged that during his stay in Delhi’s Ambassador Hotel, the petitioner paid the hotel tariff in rupees whereas he should have paid in British pounds. Similarly, he stayed at an hotel in Jaipur and paid Rs.8,000 in Indian currency. Justice Mehta called the petitioner a “chronic litigant” who filed cases against the authorities whenever any step was taken against him due to his activities which were contrary to law.
