Inspector General of Police Gugulloth Lakshman was on Tuesday asked by the Kerala High Court to pay ₹10,000 to the High Court Legal Services Authority as cost for making serious allegations against the Office of the Chief Minister and later seeking to withdraw it by stating that the averments were wrong and his counsel wrongly included the allegations in the affidavit filed before the Kerala High Court.
Mr. Lakshman had alleged in his affidavit filed as part of a petition seeking to quash a police report arranging him as an accused in the crime committed by the self-styled antiquities dealer Monson Mavunkal that an extraordinary constitutional authority was functioning in the Office of the Chief Minister.
He alleged that the extra-constitutional authority was compromising, mediating and arbitrating some of the financial dealings in the State. The invisible hands and the extra-constitutional brain were operating behind the curtain and commanding illegal activities, he had alleged.
Though he had initially submitted that the allegations were wrongly included by his lawyer, he later submitted through a senior lawyer that the allegations were made by mistake and it was not a mistake of the lawyer who represented him earlier.
He also submitted that he had instructed his earlier counsel over the phone to file the affidavit on an imperfect understanding of the factual situation and the averments crept into the affidavit due to oversight. The averments were unintentional and not attributable to the counsel or the staff in his office, he submitted.
The court noted that the petitioner cannot change his pleadings according to his whims and fancies. The petitioner had made serious allegations against the Office of the Chief Minister. Later, the petitioner submitted that the said averments were wrong and it was a mistake on the part of his counsel. The lawyer was blamed without any supporting documents, the court noted.
The High Court Legal Services Authority could initiate revenue recovery proceedings against the officer if he failed to pay the cost, the court ordered.
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