New Delhi, August 6
The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up the CBI and the Intelligence Bureau for not properly responding to complaints with regard to threat and harassment of judges, saying they weren’t helping the judiciary.
“There are several cases in the country which involve gangsters and where high profile people are accused. So, judges are threatened mentally also by sending messages on whatsapp, SMS. Complaints were made but the CBI has done nothing… No change in the CBI’s attitude… Sorry to observe that…,” a Bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said.
“It’s a new trend in this country. If an adverse order is passed, the judiciary is maligned. Unfortunately, there’s no freedom for a judge to complain. Even though judges complain to the police or the CBI they don’t respond. IB, CBI aren’t helping the judiciary at all. I’m making this statement with a sense of responsibility,” the CJI said.
The comments came during the hearing on a suo motu PIL proceedings initiated by the CJI on judges’ safety in the wake of alleged murder of a judge in Dhanbad, Jharkhand last month.
District and Sessions Judge-8 of Dhanbad Court, Uttam Anand, was out on morning walk at around 5 am on July 29 when he was hit by a vehicle from behind near the district court, reports quoting the local police said. An auto-rickshaw driver took him to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, reports said. A purported CCTV footage of the incident suggested Anand was deliberately hit from behind.
“Look at this unfortunate case of the death of a young judge. This is the state’s failure. This area has coal mafias and security should have been provided to the society and residences of judges,” the CJI noted.
“It’s time some strong measures are put in place,” Attorney General KK Venugopal said, sharing the top court’s concerns.
“When cases involving gangsters and high profile accused are taken up, the judges often get calls that We know which car they are traveling in,” Venugopal said.
The Bench issued notice to the CBI—which has taken over the probe into the Dhanbad judge’s death following an order issued by the state government—and posted the matter for hearing on Monday.
It asked states to file their responses by August 17 on the larger issue of safety and security of judges and creating a special force for security of courts and judges.
Jharkhand Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan told the court that the state had formed a 22- members SIT and they had apprehended the driver of the vehicle. “We also took a decision to hand over the case to the CBI. They have taken it over and we already assisting,” he submitted
So you washed off your hands?” the CJI commented.
“There may be cross border implications and a serious matter….so we handed it over to the CBI,” Ranjan said.
A day after a judicial officer was allegedly killed in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, the Supreme Court had on July 30 taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and directed the state’s Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to submit a status report on the probe into it within a week.
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