New Delhi, July 29 - The Supreme Court Wednesday issued notice to noted criminal lawyer and former MP R.K. Anand, asking him why he should not be given more punishment, including jail sentence, for committing contempt of court by trying to derail the criminal justice system.

A bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal issued notice to Anand and endorsed his conviction by the Delhi High Court for committing the contempt by trying to collude with special public prosecutor I.U. Khan to save his client. Former navy chief Admiral S.M. Nanda's grandson Sanjeev Nanda, for whom Anand was counsel, was facing the trial for mowing down six people under the wheels of his car.

The bench, which also included Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Aftab Alam, however, absolved Khan of the contempt charges after mildly censuring his conduct as a public prosecutor.

It approved of the bonafide intention of the television news channel NDTV for carrying out a sting operation and exposing the two lawyers' conducts, which revealed a rot in the criminal justice system.

'The appeal of R.K. Anand is dismissed subject to the notice of enhancement of punishment issued to him. He is allowed eight weeks' time from the date of service of notice for filing his show-cause reply,' ruled the bench.

The high court had convicted both Anand and Khan in August 2008 on contempt charges for colluding to shield an accused facing the criminal trial and thus interfering with the judicial process and administration of justice.

While convicting the two lawyers, the high court had banned them from practicing before it and its subordinate courts in Delhi for four months and had also divested them of their robes of senior lawyers. It had also imposed a fine of Rs.2,000 on each of them.

While dismissing Anand's appeal and issuing notice to him to enhance his punishment, the Supreme Court bench allowed Khan's appeal against the high court verdict. It said: 'The appeal filed by I.U. Khan is allowed and his conviction for criminal contempt is set aside.'

'The period of four month's prohibition from appearing in the Delhi High Court and the courts subordinate to it is already over.