Externment Orders Without Valid Reasons Are Invalid: Supreme Court

A Delhi court has sentenced Sukesh Chandrasekhar to eight years in prison for allegedly threatening a judge over the phone while impersonating a Supreme Court judge in an attempt to secure bail in a case. Chief Judicial Magistrate Harshita Mishra observed that the convict had committed an act of institutional betrayal and attempted to undermine the integrity of the judiciary and the judicial process. Separate sentences were imposed for offences including impersonating a person holding a public office, harassing a public servant and issuing threats, with the court directing that the sentences run consecutively. The case was registered after Sukesh, while in police custody in a corruption case, allegedly used a constable’s mobile phone to make a threatening call to a special judge.

In another significant ruling, the Supreme Court held that externment orders directing a person to leave a specific area cannot be sustained without reasonable and justifiable grounds. A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu said such orders directly affect the fundamental rights and personal liberty guaranteed to citizens under the Constitution. The court set aside an order issued last year externing an individual from Raigarh and neighbouring districts in Chhattisgarh, noting that the reasons for the action had not been properly communicated. The bench also clarified that the mere existence of multiple criminal cases against a person cannot, by itself, justify an externment order.