AHMEDABAD: Some lawyers like to take up causes pro bono (free). Morris Christian prefers to act suo motu-on his own, in his own “court”.
That was the case history of the Ahmedabad advocate until Monday when he was arrested on a local court’s directive for passing orders “like the chief court of the nation, like a king” and for making claimants owners of govt plots worth crores.
The civil court ordered an FIR against Morris and his accomplices when one such order involving Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s land was challenged. The court found that Morris passed the order in favour of claimants to usurp the land worth over Rs 100 crore. The court termed the order of the fake tribunal “void ab initio” and “not enforceable” as Morris had appointed himself an arbitrator without authority and passed the fraudulent order.
It has now emerged that Morris does not have a valid lawyer’s licence and had been in jail for three months over this in 2007. “Morris claimed he had a degree from some international law university and a licence from ‘International Bar Council’. He practised in different courts by forging certificates and degrees. No such council existed,” Anil Kella, advocate and chairman of Bar Council of Gujarat‘s finance committee, said. Morris’s dealings had been on the radar of local courts for five years when people challenged his orders as an arbitrator. In the past, Gujarat HC stayed several of his decrees. Morris put up a stout defence, claiming he was a member of Indian Council of Arbitration and, therefore, authorised to pass such orders. He even told the court how he functioned.
Judge CL Chovatiya said,”In the past, contempt proceedings took place against Morris but he does not stop his illegal activity and continues to pursue it vigorously by creating a set-up that is like a court of law, by making all administrative arrangements himself,” adding that Morris disposed of “500 cases” every month. The court ordered its registrar to have the FIR lodged against Morris and his aides under several sections, including 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), leading to his arrest.