Petition filed in High Court seeking probe into CJP’s Saurav Das’s background

Chennai: A businessman approached the Madras High Court on Friday, seeking directions to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to immediately carry out a detailed, thorough and fair investigation into the background and personal details of Yogesh Sharma, also known as Saurav Das, the national co-convenor of the Cockroach Janata Party, along with his parents. In his petition, Ganesh Kumar alleged that Das’ roots trace back to Nepal and said this claim should be investigated. If it is proved true, he argued, “he cannot lecture about our government and our judiciary.” Kumar also accused Das of “abusing” the judiciary.

If Das is found guilty, the petitioner has sought the cancellation of his passport and Aadhaar card. The first bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, heard the PIL filed by Ganesh Kumar of Kancheepuram district and issued notice to the Union government, the Regional Passport Officer and 10 others. The matter was made returnable in six weeks.

In his petition, Kumar also requested the Ministry of Electronics and Telecommunications to block the Twitter and Instagram accounts under the name “Saurav Das” and stop him from making any further derogatory remarks against the judiciary and judges of the Supreme Court. He further sought restraint on Das from making any defamatory, intimidating, abusive, vulgar, barbaric or disparaging comments against the judiciary as a whole, and specifically against judges of the Supreme Court, high courts and lower courts, under the guise of freedom of speech and expression, through any media platform, including social media, either directly or through friends, colleagues, agents or representatives, until the case is disposed of. Kumar said Das had been continuously insulting the judiciary, and that this itself amounted to an abuse of the Constitution.

He added that if the claims about Das having Nepali roots were true, then Yogesh Sharma had deliberately hidden these facts and fraudulently obtained Aadhaar, a voter ID and a passport in India. “He has no business to abuse the judiciary,” Kumar said, adding that in the interest of the nation, a deeper inquiry was necessary into how he obtained his Aadhaar card and passport, as well as the sources of his funds and the people backing him while he made such remarks against the judiciary. He said that, in the name of accountability, the source of his funding must definitely be probed.