SOS e - Clarion Of Dalit

IT IS A FORUM TOWARDS PROTECTING THE CIVIL , HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE OPPRESSED - DALITS , MINORITIES & TRIBALS.The Criminal - Police - Politician - Judge - Criminals Nexus is trying to silence me in many ways. If anything untoward happens to me or to my dependents CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA together with jurisdictional police & District Magistrate will be responsible for it. Secure Mail : Naag@torbox3uiot6wchz.onion

Monday, October 1, 2012

JUDGEMENTS for Sale

S.O.S   e - Clarion  Of  Dalit  -  Weekly  Newspaper  On  Web 
Working  For  The  Rights  &  Survival  Of  The Oppressed
Editor: NAGARAJA.M.R… VOL.6 issue.40… 03/10/2012

Read  :

Ms. Mamata  Banerjee  -  Judge ments  for  SALE


RTI  Appeal  to  CIC


SHAME SHAME SUPREME COURT


Rs 100 crore offered for Gali Janardhan Reddy’s bail: Arrested judge

More skeletons are tumbling out in the murky cash-for-bail scam involving mining baron and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy as a lower court judge, arrested in the case, disclosed to the ACB that Gali's men were ready to offer as much as a staggering Rs 100 crore to secure bail for him. Earlier, the deal amount was put at Rs 15 crore.
T Lakshminarasimha Rao, the arrested judge, disclosed that Dasaradharami Reddy, a relative of Gali, had made the Rs 100 crore offer, according to the confession statement recorded by the ACB. Krishna Prasad, an auditor, who is known to him and another relative M Venkateswara Rao approached Lakshminarasimha Rao in the second week of April with a request to look for a `channel' to influence the CBI judge for Gali's release on bail. "They were in touch with Dasaradharami Reddy who was willing to pay even Rs 100 crore for securing the bail," the confession statement of Rao said. Though the deal initially came as a shock to the arrested judge, who at the time was registrar (enquiries), high court, he was later attracted towards the deal, it said.

Lakshminarasimha Rao called the CBI court judge B Nagamaruti Sarma to his residence on April 18 and tried to convince him on granting of bail to Gali. Sarma did not agree for the deal and went away rejecting the offer. He had, in fact, dismissed the bail plea. Then another person Raavi Surya Prakash Babu, a real estate dealer, who was taken to Bellary MLA Sriramulu by his associate Kolli Lakshmaiah Chowdary for striking the deal, approached Rao again. Surya Prakash had already met Sriramulu's nephew and Kampli MLA T H Suresh Babu who, too, was trying to secure bail for Gali and advised him to wait as Nagamaruti Sarma was not of 'their type'. But he requested Lakshminarasimha Rao to keep the `channel' open as the deal was "too lucrative to be ignored".
Later, in a strange sequence of events, Nagamaruti Sarma was shifted out of CBI court and a fresh bail plea was filed which came before another special judge T Pattabhirama Rao. Lakshminarasimha Rao roped in Pattabhi's batchmate D Prabhakar Rao, another district judge, who was with the state election commission as its secretary (legal). He also tried to push the deal but failed as Pattabhi told him that he would decide the matter on only `merit'. It turned out later that Pattabhi chose a 'route' planned by his friend Chalapati though the deal was only for Rs 5 crore. This was mainly because his friend did not put any precondition that he should meet Gali Somasekhara Reddy, brother of Gali Janardhana Reddy, before giving bail as was done by Prabhakar Rao, who was also arrested in the case. Prabhakar in his confession spoke of only Rs 15 core implying that he too was unaware of the whopping Rs 100-crore deal. While the ACB arrested Lakshminarasimha Rao on July 12, Pattabhi was arrested last month.
Interestingly, the ACB sleuths seized some cheques bearing the names of Lakshminarasimha Rao's family members with some complaint letters written by advocates against some AP high court judges. The letters were addressed to the President of India.

FINAL SHOW-CAUSE NOTICE TO  CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA , ALL MEMBERS OF INDIAN PARLIAMENT  ( MP ),   MEMBERS OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES  ( MLA ) & others

In india democracy is a farce , freedom a mirage. the most basic freedom RIGHT TO INFORMATION & EXPRESSION , is not honoured by the government,as the information opens up the crimes of V.V.I.Ps & leads to their ill-gotten wealth. The public servants are least bothered about the lives of people or justice to them. these type of fat cats , parasites are a drain on the public exchequer . these people want ,wish me to see dead , wish to see HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH closed . so that, a voice against injustices is silenced forever , the crimes of V.V.I.Ps closed , buried forever.
To my numerous appeals , HRW’s appeals to you ,you have not yet replied. It clearly shows that you are least bothered about the lives of people or justice to them .it proves that you are hell bent to protect the criminals at any cost. you are just pressurising the police to enquire me ,to take my statement, to repeatedly call me to police station all with a view to silence me.all of you enjoy “legal immunity privileges” ,why don’t you have given powers to the police / investigating officer to summon all of you for enquiry ?or else why don’t all of you are not appearing before the police voluntarily for enquiry ?at the least why don’t all of you are not sending your statement about the case to the police either through legal counsel or  through post? you are aiding criminals ,by denying me job oppurtunities in R.B.I CURRENCY NOTE PRESS mysore , city civil court ,bangalore , distict court , mysore ,etc & by illegally closing my newspaper.
there is a gross, total mismatch between your actions and your oath of  office. this amounts to public cheating & moral turpitude on your  part.
1.you are making contempt of the very august office you hold.
2.you are making contempt of the constitution of india.
3.you are making contempt of citizens of india.
4.you are sponsoring & aiding terorrism & organized crime.
5.you are violating the fundamental & human rights of the citizens of  india and of neighbouring countries.
6.you are violating & making contempt of the U.N HUMAN RIGHTS CHARTER  to which india is a signatory.
7.you are obstructing me from performing my fundamental duties as a  citizen of india.
you are hereby called upon to SHOW-CAUSE within 30 days , why you  cann’t be legally prosecuted for the above mentioned crimes .
If i am  repeatedly called to police station or else where for the sake of investigations , the losses i do incurr as a result like loss of wages , transportation , job , etc must be borne by the government. prevoiusly the police / IB personnel repeatedly called me the complainant (sufferer of injustices) to police station for questioning , but never called the guilty culprits even once to police station for questioning , as the culprits are high & mighty . this type of one sided questioning must not be done by police or investigating agencies . if anything untoward happens to me or to my family members like loss of job , meeting with hit & run accidents , loss of lives , etc , the jurisdictional police together with above mentioned accussed public servants will be responsible for it. Even if criminal nexus levels fake charges ,  police file fake cases against me or my dependents  to silence me , this complaint is & will be effective.
if anything untoward happens to me or my dependents , the government of india is liable to pay Rs. one crore as compensation to survivors of my family. if my whole family is eliminated by the criminal nexus ,then that compensation money must be donated to Indian Army Welfare Fund. afterwards , the money must be recovered by GOI as land arrears from the salary , pension , property , etc of guilty police officials , public servants & Constitutional fuctionaries. Thanking you.
Jai Hind , Vande Mataram.
Date :  15.07.2012……………………………………………..your’s sincerely,
Place : Mysore , India………………………………………….Nagaraja M R

‘Corrupt judges must face the music’

Corruption exists in the Indian judiciary. A few judges are inappropriately influenced in their decision making. Saying this is A P Shah, former chief justice of the high courts of Madras and Delhi.
Shah lived up to his reputation for calling a spade a spade on Saturday, when he delivered a speech on judicial appointments and accountability at a function organized by the Nani Palkhivala Foundation and the Govindh Swaminadhan Trust at the Music Academy .

“Corruption has spread its tentacles and does not seem to be limited to conventional forms of bribery,” he said. Stating that judges guilty of misconduct should face prosecution, he said judicial independence should not protect a judge from investigation and censure for a valid charge.
The country remembers Justice Shah for his orders in the Delhi high court decriminalizing ‘unnatural sexual offences’ under Section 377 of IPC and ruling that the office of the Chief Justice of India too was amenable to the RTI Act. But, Chennai remembers the no-nonsense jurist for being instrumental in the removal of giant hoardings in the city. Sitting with Justice K Chandru, he quashed the political exemption granted to unauthorised buildings in the city, and it was because of his orders that many public buildings today offer a barrier-free environment to disabled people.
On Thursday, Justice Shah spoke on judicial accountability, servility, corruption, judicial independence and the need to usher in a transparent process to select judges.
Lamenting the ‘democratic deficit’ in the way judges are chosen on the basis of undisclosed criteria and circumstances, Justice Shah said: “The present system of judicial appointments in the constitutional courts exemplifies the misalignment between the core values of judicial independence and accountability.”
He discussed the US and the UK model of appointing judges, but said a hybrid model where a judicial appointment commission short-listing the names, which could be rejected only on specific reasons, was most suitable for India.
Slamming the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill 2010, he said involving MPs in the procedure would undermine the judicial independence. “If implemented in the present form, the Bill would mark the beginning of the end of the judiciary,” he said.

-       VIVEK MALHOTRA


In every country the judiciary comprises the third and in many ways the most important organ of the governmental machinery. The executive and the legislature of course have a vital role to play in the multifaceted task of governance, but in a federal set-up, it is the judiciary that holds the balance. Lord Bryca, the famous British Jurist and constitutional expert, rightly commented that there is no better test of the excellence of a government than the efficiency of the judicial system.
The judiciary is in fact the guardian of the people’s right; it protects these rights from encroachments by the Government, public bodies and individuals. The liberty of the people, so vital in a democracy, gets endangered if there is no totally independent judiciary commanding the highest conceivable degree of credibility. If the judges, are not men of integrity and sound moral character, public confidence in the judiciary cannot be ensured.
It is this public trust and credibility that is now threatened as a result of certain improprieties, indiscretions and even acts of direct and indirect corruption, by certain judges. No one., least of all the framers of India’s carefully devised Constitution, envisaged a situation in which the judiciary would get exposed to charges of corruption. The recent acts of colleagues here and abroad but also by all people everywhere who cherish high moral principles and the values on which our polity is supposed to be based.
Until recently, talk of the threat of collapse of the judicial system was linked with the unbearable work load of the judges at various levels, caused by the frightening backing of cases together with the ceaseless flow of new ones.
The delays in getting justice from the courts are proverbial. Even six decades after independence there is no sign of the speedy, inexpensive justice which the Founding Father of the Republic and other leaders envisaged. Some people even fear that a time may come when disputes will be settled through extra judicial means, as has happened in certain areas of Bihar.
Among the causes of the scandalous delay are the complicated court procedures, the needlessly lengthy and adjournments (generally sought by the lawyers) themselves in order to enhance their incomes), the heavy pressure of work necessitating long intervals between hearings, the facility of lodging appeals to high courts, the inadequate number of judges and the numerous holidays. Two lack fresh cases are filed in the various courts each year while the disposal rate does not exceed 9,000. The work load of all courts – subordinate, High or Supreme is doubling every seven years.
The former Chief Justice of India, expressed anguish over the failure of the judicial system to meet the needs and expectations of the public for the justice and redress in private disputes or against the Government. All members of the judiciary, especially judges of the High courts are expected to be scrupulously honest and men of integrity. Unfortunately, several senior judges of the Mumbai High Court have become controversial figures.
Judicial independence has been enshrined in the Constitution under Article 124. A judge’s salary or other service conditions cannot be altered to his disadvantages. He cannot be removed from office, save through the arduous process of impeachment which requires approval of a two-thirds majority of ach House of Parliament. To get this is indeed a difficulty task. This independence has enabled the Courts to invalidate several unconstitutional laws passed by the legislatures affecting the rights and liberties of the citizens or the Press. Judicial independence , however, should no got to the extent of making judges irresponsible or unconcerned about the proper performance of their duties and their accountability for their actions and indulging in graft.
There seems to be a nexus between the sudden fall in the credibility of the judiciary and the increasing politicization of the process of appointment of judges in which lobbying in the corridors of power rather than knowledge of law and character was found to be quite effective. Unless the executive sheds its power of having the final voice in judicial appointments and transfers, the situation cannot improve.
The Judge’s conference thought if the existing system was worked in the true sprit, it could prove more useful. To ensure that malpractices do no creep in, it wants that the Chief Justice of India’s role should not be merely consultative as at present but it must be laid down that his concurrence is necessary for appointments and transfers. Also in the case of appointment of High Court Judges, it is the Chief Justice of the High Court who should recommended the name and the Chief Minister should only be consulted. In essence, it is politic and political influence that lead to miscarriage and denial of justice and even corruption.
The living conditions and economic status of some judges are started to pathetic. But could be any justification for indulging in corruption – the every evil of judiciary is expected to check. in this connection, the suggestion of a top anti-corruption drive expert that there should be an inter-judiciary or in-house body, which may be called ‘Board of Judicial Ethics’ is a sound of one.

Who Will Judge the JUDGES ?

Mr.Arvind Kejriwal & Mr.Winston Churchill are Almost RIGHT – Criminals  have entered Indian Parliament        - Legislate  LOKPAL  Bill

With whole hearted respects to the parliament & all constitutional bodies , hereby we are appealing to the honest few in public service , honest few in parliament , honest few in judiciary & honest few in police , to legally prosecute their corrupt colleagues , to legislate  “ LOKPAL  BILL”  with  full powers to enforce accountability of  all public servants , MPs , MLAs , Police , etc to  the citizens of india. Contempt of Parliament & other constitutional bodies is being made by some of the Corrupt MPs themselves. Therby these MPs are making contempt of Indian Parliament , 105 crore Indian citizens , Constitution of India  and Obstructing the Indian Citizens from performing their FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES to uphold constituion of india , it’s dignity. These Corrupt Public Servants are doing more damges to India’s National Unity & Integrity  than naxals & terrorists . These Corrupt Public Servants are more deadlier & greater threat to india than Pakistan & China. The honest few in parliament  & other constitutional bodies are either keeping mum or not taking appropriate steps to intiate criminal legal prosecution against their corrupt colleagues , this is aiding those criminals to do more crimes , to go unpunished , to manipulate legal system , to manipulate evidences / records , to get acquitted by courts for lack of evidences , to influence police to withdraw cases against them or to file B reports , etc. In these ways the corrupt public servants will never be  convicted , they will be either stay as accussed or acquitted for lack of evidences or government withdraws cases against them or police file B report.

Citizens of india are supreme in democratic republic of india. parliament , MPs , MLAs are creations of citizens and are subservient , subordinate to the citizens of india. Creations cann’t be supreme than the creator.

Vohra committee has officially acknowledged the criminalization of politics , parliament , legislatures. The politicians crave for power because , while in power investigating / prosecuting agencies will be under their control / influence and they can manipulate the legal process , WHITE WASHING all their crimes. Just see , recently union home minister Mr.Chidambaram  influencing the delhi police  for closing a cheating case against a builder by forcing the police to file “B” report. Recent example read vijaya karnataka kannada daily dated 14.04.2012  lokayukta police favoring ex-CM Yediyurappa & Minister Somanna  tried to close a case before lokayukta court by filing B Report although enough evidences are there to prosecute Ex CM & Minister . Politicians stoop low to such levels , to make money Ex :  irregularities in purchase of coffins meant for kargil martyrs , allotment of  flats meant for war widows , war veterans at Mumbai.
If proper accountability of public servants is legally enacted, independence , autonomy of judiciary & police is  legally enacted , then those in power cann’t WHITE WASH their own crimes. That is the reason many political parties are opposing “LOKPAL BILL” since decades under many pretexts.
Subject to conditions , I do offer my services to the government of india & supreme court of india , to legally apprehend  CRIMINALS , CORRUPT  PUBLIC SERVANTS ,  ARE  YOU  READY  to utilize our services ?

JANLOKPAL  BILL   -   Need  for  Accountability  of  VVIPS

While drafting  our constitution of india ,  drafting members  - freedom fighters  themselves  assumed that  in future also the persons who will occupy constituional positions will be sincere  & of  high impeccable  integrity.  However they were proved wrong. Late Prime Minister of Great Britain Mr.Winston Churchill has been proved  right.

“Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts.  They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed.” Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan.

Nowadays  , criminals  have  entered into public service , working as police , magistrates , etc. Criminals have become MPs , MLAs and are also working as Cabinet Ministers .  Criminals  have become judges , some of them have become supreme court judges.

End result  CRIMINALS  POLICING  THE  OTHER CRIMINALS , CRIMINALS  DRAFTING  LAWS , CRIMINALS  JUDGING OTHERS.

Even  there are cases of  irregularities  , illegaliteies  by Prime Minister of India and  Irregularities , illegalities committed  by supreme  court of india judges . Example :  JMM MPs bribery case , CWG Scam , 2G Scam , Bofors Scandal , etc  and Bhopal  Gas Tragedy Judgement fixing by  then chief justice of india by way of alteration of  charges ,  financial irregularities , illegal dealings by supreme court judges , etc.

In this backdrop , continuing with legal immunity to Prime minister  of india , supreme court judges or any constitutional persons is nothing but blanket clearance to those  VVIPs to commit more crimes , more anti-national acts  wthout the fear of Law  or Legal Prosecution. THIS  LEGAL  IMMUNITY  IS  &  WILL  BE AGAINST  THE BASIC  CONSTITUTIONAL  LETTER  &  SPIRIT OF  EQUALITY  &  EQUITABLE  JUSTICE.

Are not  some of the  cabinet  minsiters , so called constitutional experts  , great advocates  aware of this fundamental violation of constitution of india.  Ofcourse , these advocates rightly fight for , take the cases of poor , commonman , they usually take cases of MNCs , Big time criminals , etc.  Let  these constitutional experts  show us a single government hospital without corruption . Let  the  light  of our  constitution  shine  on  our   learned friends in the parliament  belonging to all political parties. Corruption is there in every political party , in the same way there are  very few honest persons in all political parties , judiciary , police & public service.  Why you are afraid of accountability to people , while  you are enjoying 5-star luxurious lifestyles at tax payer’s expense ?

If  you are so  sincere  READ ARTICLES / CASE at following web pages  & ANSWER :
Judgements  for  SALE  in  India
Cross Examination of  Loksabha Speaker & RajyaSabha Dy Chairman
Parliamentary Privilege or Cover-up of Crimes
Threats to RTI Applicant & Judgement Fixing
Honour of Indian Parliament for  SALE



FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF CITIZENS Vs PRIVILEGES OF CONSTITUTIONAL FUNCTIONARIES IN INDIA

Let the Legislators of states, members of parliament, High courts & Supreme Court Judges & other constitutional functionaries answer the following questions which are vital in a democracy.
1) What are the fundamental rights of a citizen guaranteed under the constitution (Article 21) ?
2) What are the privileges conferred on legislators & parliamentarians by the constitution of India?
a) Inside the House b) Outside the House
3) What are privileges conferred on constitutional functionaries, like
a) President of India b) Prime Minister of India
c) Chief Justice of India d) Chairman of NHRC
e) Central Vigilance Commissioners.
4) Are the privileges legal immunity conferred on above mentioned constitutional functionaries ?
a) Cover all their official actions irrespective of merit.
b) Cover both their official & personal actions.
5) Are the privileges defined & codified ?
6) Are these privileges above freedom of the press ?
7) Are the liberty & fundamental rights of the citizens guaranteed by the constitution, above the privileges of the constitutional functionaries or equal or below ?
8) Can the Indian legislatures & parliament be equated to the House of commons in England which is considered to be a superior court and court of records ?
9) Can the division of powers, namely the legislature, the executive and the Judiciary, be equated to the functioning of the House of commons and House of Lords in England ?
10) Can a citizen be said to have committed breach of privilege of the House or court and causing contempt of the house or court by raising the issues of accountability of constitutional functionaries ?
11) Can a Legislature or Parliament enact a new law, to circumvent or to nullify the Judicial orders with respect to wrongdoings by peoples representatives & executive ? does not it amount to infringement of Judicial powers & contempt of the court by the House.
12) Are the FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES of a citizen more important than constitutional duties of a constitutional functionary or equal in importance to it ?
13) Can a constitutional functionary commit crimes, anti-national activities in the name of constitutional duties, behind the legal veil of official’s secret act & go unaccountable for his actions and go unpunished by his legal immunity privileges ?
14) Are the Legislators members of parliament, High court & Supreme court Judges and other constitutional functionaries not willing to codify their privileges for the reason that if codified their privileges would be curtailed and their action would be subjected to legal scrutiny. ?
15) By votes of citizens Legislators and parliamentarians get seats in the legislature and Parliament out of tax payer’s money, they get their pay, perks & lead 5-Star luxurious lifestyles. Hence whether a vote of a citizen is above (More valid) or a seat of legislator or parliamentarian is above or more valid in a democracy ?
16) Judges & Constitutional functionaries are indirectly appointed by voters / tax payers. Out of tax payers money, they get their pay, perks & lead 5-star luxurious lifestyles. Hence, whether the vote of a citizen, fundamental duties of a tax payer is above (more valid) or a seat of judge / constitutional functionary is above (more
valid) in a democracy ?
17) If there is a vacuum in the Legislature or parliament, who is to fill up that vacuum till such time that the legislature or parliament acts provide a solution by performing its role by enacting proper legislation to cover the field (vacuum) ?
18) While it is an unhealthy practice for a Judge to claim to be a Judge in his own cause, is it not worse for the members of the legislature and parliament to be judges in their own cause ?
19) Are the Technicalities of the case more important to a judge or Justice to a citizen, protection of fundamental rights of citizen.?
20) Why not the constitutional functionaries initiate suo moto action with respect to numerous cases of injustices reported in Media ?
21) Why not the Judges admit various cases of Injustices affecting public, as the Public Interest Litigation” ? In some cases, the Public or the person representing them is unable to afford the high cost of the case. Why not free legal aid is given ?.
22) What is the criteria for admitting a P.I.L. & giving free legal aid ?
23) Communication – free flow of information is the lifeline of a democracy. Why the constitutional functionaries are not honouring the Right to Information of Citizens ?



Shame to Corrupt  Judges of India

Editorial : Legal prosecution of cruel & inhuman STF police personnel
-       An appeal to H.E.HONOURABLE GOVERNOR OF KARNATAKA

During “catch forest brigand veerappan operation” , Special Task Force
police personnel  , illegally arrested , detained , tortured &
murdered innocent tribal people of both tamil nadu & Karnataka states.
NHRC  has clearly noted the crimes of STF personnel & ordered both
Karnataka & tamil nadu governments to pay compensation to victims of
police atrocities. However still some of these victims are not yet
paid compensation by these governments , why ? also , the government
instead of legally prosecuting guilty police officers on murder
charges , has given  awards & promotion to guilty inhuman police
officers. Is the government sending a message that 3rd degree torture
& murders in lock-up / fake encounters is acceptable & legal ? is it
equitable justice ? is there one set of law for police & another for
common people ?
Hereby , we do once again request your kindself , to dismiss guilty
police officials from police service , to withhold their pension
benefits ,  to legally prosecute them on charges of murders of
innocent tribal people & on charges of attempt to murder innocent
tribal people by 3rd degree torture methods. Hereby , we also request
you to make public  JUSTICE A.J. SADA SHIVA COMMISSION’s findings
about atrocities by STF personnel.
To order the prison authorities to subject the four convicts, accomplices of Veerappan to Narco analysis & Bran mapping tests in a fair manner with unbiased questionnaire.
So that truth will come out about Ex-Minister Nagappa’s Murder
case, Amount of Ransoms paid during all kidnap episodes including Movie star Raj Kumar’s kidnap episode. Truth will come out about the Minister M.L.As. M.Ps. Police & Forest Officials who have stacked away riches by helping him. Truth will come about Granite quarry  owners who helped him. Truth will come out about traders, merchants who traded in goods , sandal wood , Ivory supplied by forest brigand Veerappan.
To order the Govt of Karnataka , to make public the Justice A J
Sadashiva’s commission’s final report & complete proceedings . Then the truth will come out, how the STF personnel, police tortured tribal people at a place called WORK SHOP IN M M HILLS how they gang raped tribal women repeatedly for days together, how they burnt their breasts, how they pushed sticks smeared with chilli sambar powder into their anus. How the police tied men folk upside down from the ceiling . How many died, unable to bear the shame & torture ? Are not these brutal inhuman STF police personnel fit to be hanged till death, along with four accomplices of Veerappan ?
To order the National Human Rights Commission to make public the findings of its independent enquiry conducted about the police torture on tribal people. Violations of human rights of tribal people in the forest brigand veerappan’s Territory i.e. M M Hills.

Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

Your’s Sincerely,
Nagaraja.M.R.

The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture – 26 June is held annually on 26 June to speak out against the crime of torture and to honour and support victims and survivors throughout the world.
This is a day on which we pay our respects to those who have endured the unimaginable. This is an occasion for the world to speak up against the unspeakable. It is long overdue that a day be dedicated to remembering and supporting the many victims and survivors of torture around the world.
—Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan[1]

At a time when the legitimate aspirations of people in many regions of the world for greater freedom, dignity and a better life are too often met with violence and repression, I urge States to respect the fundamental rights of all people. Torture and other forms of cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment and punishment, wherever they occur and whatever the circumstances, can never be justified.

Contents


International Torture day in Support of Torture Victims- 26th June
United Nations has designated 26thJune as the International Day Against Torture to emphasize the importance of the right to personal dignity and security of all individuals around the world, guaranteed within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It is the anniversary of a landmark event in the fight for human rights. It is meant to commemorate the adoption of the Convention Against Torture by the United Nations General Assembly. In India June 26 has a special significance as in 1975 on this day the dreaded EMERGENCY was declared.
In October 1997, the Government of India signed the Convention Against Torture (CAT) making the following statement: “The Convention corresponds to the ethos of Indian democracy, rule of law, individual freedom, personal liberty and security enshrined in Indian polity. Signature of the Convention Against Torture by India is an important milestone in the process of India’s continued commitment to fundamental and human rights of all persons and directive principles of national policy. Ratification of the Convention is to follow.” Yet, torture continues to be a part of the administrative system in many parts of our country. Over the last decade, there has been mounting evidence that torture has become an institutionalised practice within India.
Center for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT), commemorated the International day in support of torture victims by staging company theatre’s play ‘ voices’ in the University campus, kalina in Mumbai. The play depicted various forms of torture. After the play, a discussion was held on the issue of torture and human rights. Students largely felt that India should ratify the Convention against Torture (CAT) Snaps of the play
This convention bans torture under all circumstances and establishes the UN Committee against Torture. In particular, it defines torture, requires states to take effective legal and other measures to prevent torture, declares that no state of emergency, other external threats, nor orders from a superior officer or authority may be invoked to justify torture. It forbids countries to return a refugee to his country if there is reason to believe he/she will be tortured, and requires host countries to consider the human rights record of the person’s native country in making this decision.
The CAT requires states to make torture illegal and provide appropriate punishment for those who commit torture. It requires states to assert jurisdiction when torture is committed within their jurisdiction, either investigate and prosecute themselves, or upon proper request extradite suspects to face trial before another competent court. It also requires states to cooperate with any civil proceedings against accused torturers.
Each state is obliged to provide training to law enforcement and military on torture prevention, keep its interrogation methods under review, and promptly investigate any allegations that its officials have committed torture in the course of their official duties. It must ensure that individuals who allege that someone has committed torture against them are permitted to make and official complaint and have it investigated, and, if the complaint is proven, receive compensation, including full medical treatment and payments to survivors if the victim dies as a result of torture. It forbids states to admit into evidence during a trial any confession or statement made during or as a result of torture. It also forbids activities which do not rise to the level of torture, but which constitute cruel or degrading treatment. The second part of the Convention establishes the Committee Against Torture, and sets out the rules on its membership and activities.

CEHAT strongly believes that Toture is a health and Human rights issue. It is a slow process that is designed to render its victim helpless, dependent and devoid of all human qualities. Torture destroys the sense of self; it confuses right and wrong; any belief in the stability of the world is taken away; “truth” becomes a word without meaning. Methods of torture are limited only by the fiendish fantasies of those whose business it is to break others down. Physical methods include beating, electric shock (especially to the genitals), stretching (as on a rack), asphyxiation techniques such as submersion in contaminated water and smothering with plastic, burning, blows to the ears, forced standing or forms of suspension, sexual assault of men and women, sometimes with trained dogs. Psychological methods include sensory deprivation, anonymity and dehumanizing experiences, exposure to the sounds/sight of others being tortured. Physical effects are both acute and chronic. Physicians may see survivors with symptoms and disabilities related to their torture experiences. Some typical debilitating symptoms include: sleeplessness, headache, fatigue, chronic musculoskeletal pains, gastrointestinal problems, neurologic disorders, and sexual dysfunction. The long-term psychological effects of torture may be manifested by symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and alcohol/substance abuse.
India is signatory to the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and while it is yet to ratify the instrument, the signature implies an intention to eventually incorporate the provisions of the Convention into domestic law. The Convention specifically prohibits the use of torture, obliging every State Party to “take effective legal, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.”
Article 21 of the Constitution of India provides that “[n]o person shall be deprived of his life and liberty except according to procedure established by law”. The right to life in Article 21 of the Constitution of India does not mean mere survival or existence. It encompasses the right to live with dignity. Torture is inflicted with the aim of degrading a person and involves the violation of dignity. It therefore falls within the ambit of Article 21. Further safeguards are provided under other articles of the Constitution. Under Article 20(3), no person accused of any offence can be compelled to be a witness against himself. Article 22 (1) and (2) provide that a person who is arrested must be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest. The person also has the right to consult a lawyer of his choice. An arrested person must be produced before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest.
The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) also requires the production of accused before court within 24 hours. Section 54 of the CrPC gives the arrestee the right to be medically examined. No statement of a witness recorded by a police officer, according to Section 162 of the CrPC, can be used for any purpose other than contradicting such a statement. Thus admission of guilt before a police officer is not admissible in a court of law. Section 164 of the CrPC requires that the magistrate must ensure that a confession by the accused is voluntary. Sections 330 and 331 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) make it a penal offence to cause hurt to a person in order to extract a confession.
A victim of torture by the police is entitled to move the Supreme Court of India under Article 32 of the Constitution or the concerned High Court under Article 226. The Supreme Court and different High Courts have entertained various writ petitions alleging police torture of prisoners. According to the Supreme Court, any form of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment fall within the ambit of Article 21 of the Constitution – whether be it during interrogation, investigation or otherwise. A person does not shed his fundamental right to life when he is arrested. Article 21 cannot be denied to arrested persons or prisoners in custody (D K Basu v State of West Bengal).
On  this day   CEHAT  demanded  that  INDIA  RATIFIES  THE  CONVENTION  AGAINST TORTURE  AND MEETS  ALL  STATE  OBLIGATIONS  AS MANDATED  IN  THE  CONVENTION



Prosecute  Chief  Justice  of  India


AEROPLANE  RIDES  FOR  CORRUPT   POLICE  &  CORRUPT  JUDGES  OF  INDIA
 TORTURE CHAMBERS OF INDIA – 3RD DEGREE TORTURE PERPETRATED BY POLICE
IN INDIA – Gross violations of human rights by police
We  condemn  the cruel practices , murders committed  by Naxalites & Terrorists.  The Cruelty by Naxalites , Terrorists  does not legally authorize law  enforcing agencies to commit  cruelty , murders in retaliation , an eye for an eye. We are a democratic  republic.
It is  utter shame  , that a suspected  female maoist  person was tortured by police inspite  of strictures issued by the presiding judge. Refer  the LAWS OF JUNGLE in The Week  dated 01.01.2012. Here  the presiding judge of the court failed to ensure the safety of a suspect inspite of her repeated appeals to the court. The Police showed utter contempt  to the orders of the court & subjected the suspect to third degree torture. The Judge  & Police in the said case attempted to murder the suspect by way of  third degree torture .  If the suspect is  convicted by the  court about her crimes , let the  court punish her as per legal provisions. Who are police to punish her ? is it not the duty of  presiding judge of a case to ensure safety of both parties  & witnesses thereof ? Why not the  legal prosecution of guilty judge & police for above crimes ? Why not third degree torture , aero-plane  rides  for the guilty judge & police ?
Aeroplane is the most cruelest form of 3rd degree torture perpetrated
by police on suspects. Many innocent people have confessed to crimes
hey have not at all committed unable to bear the torture ,  pain. Many
innocents have been murdered in lock-ups  by police during these type
of 3rd degree torture. Even  if we go by the logic of police that
criminals  only sing under torture & they rightly deserve it ,  when a
petty criminal  stealing  Rs.10000 is fit for “AEROPLANE TORTURE” ,
what about criminals stealing crores of rupees , what about corrupt
police who aid  tens of such big time criminals by filing B-report ,
by  putting weak case of prosecution , by delaying tactics allowing
for destruction of evidences , etc , what about judges who acquits big
time criminals , who give judicial orders while they are in a drunken
state ,  who acquit big criminals by conducting hearings even on dates
of government holidays (concocted). ARE NOT THESE  CORRUPT POLICE &
JUDGES FIT FOR  ”BUSINESS CLASS  AEROPLANE RIDE TORTURE as per the
same logic of police.

Why  not  3rd  degree  torture of  Chief Justice of India , Union Home Secretary  and  DG & IG of  Police  for  Karnataka  who are  NOT  ANSWERING   our RTI questions  ?

At the outset , e – Voice salutes the few honest police personnel who
are
silently doing their duties inspite of pressures , harassment by
political bosses & corrupt superiors , inspite of frequent transfers ,
promotion holdups , etc. overcoming the lure of bribe ,those few are
silently doing their duties without any publicity or fanfare. we
salute
them & pay our respects to them and hereby appeal to those few honest
to catch their corrupt colleagues.
The police are trained , to crack open the cases of crimes by just
holding onto a thread of clue. Based on that clue they investigate
like
“Sherlock holmes” and apprehend the real criminals. nowadays , when
police are under various pressures , stresses – they are frequently
using  3rd degree torture methods on innocents. Mainly there are 3
reasons for this :
1)      when the investigating officer (I.O) lacks the brains of
Sherlock
holmes , to cover-up his own inefficiency he uses 3rd degree torture
on
innocents.
2)      When the I.O is biased towards rich , powerful crooks , to
frame
innocents & to extract false confessions from them , 3rd degree
torture
is used on innocents.
3)      When the I.O is properly doing the investigations , but the
higher-ups need very quick results – under work stress I.O uses 3rd
degree torture on innocents.
Nowhere in statuette books , police are legally authorized to punish
let alone torture the detainees / arrested / accussed / suspects. Only
the judiciary has the right to punish the guilty not the police. Even
the judiciary doesn’t have the right to punish the accussed /
suspects , then how come police are using 3rd degree torture
unabetted.
Even during encounters , police only have the legal right , authority
to immobilize the opponents so as to arrest them but not to kill them.
There is a reasoning among some sections of society & police that use
of 3RD DEGREE TORTURE by police is a detterent  of crimes. It is false
& biased. Take for instance there are numerous scams involving 100′s
of crores of public money – like stock scam , fodder scam , etc
involving rich businessmen , VVIP crooks. Why don’t police use 3rd
degree torture against such rich crooks and recover crores of public
money where as the police use 3rd degree torture against a
pick-pocketer to recover hundred rupees stolen ? double standards by
police.
In media we have seen numerous cases of corrupt police officials in
league with criminals. For the sake of bribe , such police officials
bury cases , destroy evidences , go slow , frame innocents , murder
innocents in the name of encounter , etc. why don’t police use 3rd
degree torture against their corrupt colleagues who are aiding
criminals , anti nationals ? double standards by police.
All the bravery of police is shown before poor , innocents , tribals ,
dalits , before them police give the pose of heroes. Whereas , before
rich , VVIP crooks , they are zeroes. They are simply like scarecrows
before rich crooks.
Torture in any form by anybody is inhuman & illegal. For the purpose
of
investigations police have scientific investigative tools like
polygraph, brain mapping , lie detector , etc. these scientific tools
must be used against rich crooks & petty criminals without bias.
Hereby we urge the GOI & all state governments :
1)      to book cases of murder against police personnel who use 3rd
degree
torture on detainees and kill detainees in the name of encounter
killings.
2)      To dismiss such inhuman , cruel personnel from police service
and to
forfeit all monetary benefits due to them like gratuity , pension ,
etc.
3)      To pay such forfeited amount together with matching government
contribution as compensation to family of the victim’s of 3rd degree
torture & encounter killings.
4)      To review , all cases where false confessions were extracted
from
innocents by 3rd degree torture.
5)      To make liable the executive magistrate of the area , in whose
jurisdiction torture is perpetrated by police on innocents.
6)      To make it incumbent on all judicial magistrates ,to provide a
torture free climate to all parties , witnesses in cases before his
court.
7)      To make public the amount & source  of ransom money paid to
forest
brigand veerappan to secure the release of matinee idol mr. raj kumar.
8)      To make public justice A.J.Sadashiva’s report on “torture of
tribals , human rights violations by Karnataka police in M.M.HILLS ,
KARNATAKA”.
9)      To make it mandatory for police to use scientific tools of
investigations like brain mapping , polygraph , etc without bias
against suspects rich or poor.
10)     To include human rights education in preliminary & refresher
training of police personnel.
11)     To recruit persons on merit to police force who have aptitude
&
knack for investigations.
12)     To insulate police from interference from politicians &
superiors.
13)     To make police force answerable to a neutral apex body instead
of
political bosses. Such body must be empowered to deal with all service
matters of police.
14)     The political bosses & the society must treat police in a
humane
manner and must know that they too have practical limitations. Then on
a reciprocal basis , police will also treat others humanely.
15)     The police must be relieved fully from the sentry duties of
biggies
& must be put on detective , investigative works.
Nowadays , we are seeing reports of corruption by police & judges in
the media and are also seeing reports of raids by vigilance
authorities seizing crores of wealth from such corrupt police. Some
Judges have also amassed crores of wealth. Who gives them money ? it
is rich criminals , anti-nationals . By taking bribe & hiding the
crimes of criminals , the corrupt police & judges are themselves
becoming active parties in the crimes , anti-national activities.
Those shameless , corrupt police & judges are nothing but traitors &
anti – nationals themselves. When an innocent is subjected to 3rd
degree torture to extract truth with justification by investigating
agencies that all for the sake of national security , what degree of
torture these corrupt  , anti-national police & judges qualify for ?
what type of aeroplane or helicopter the corrupt police / judges must
ride ? ofcourse , for protection of national security. Here also
police & judges have double standards , what a shame.
We at e – voice are for “Rule of Law” & abhor all type of violence.
Truly these police & judges are not building a Ram Rajya of our
Mahatma Gandhi’s dream.
Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.
Your’s sincerely,
Nagaraj.M.R.

CRIMINALS IN POLICE UNIFORM
- An appeal to union home minister & Karnataka state home minister

The ABC of police force in India is apathy ,
brutality & corruption . in India, police are not impartially
enforcing
law instead are working as hand maidens of  rich & mighty. The corrupt
police officers are collecting protection money from criminals ,
collecting money to go slow on investigations , to file B- reports ,
to
fix innocents in fake cases , to murder innocents in lock-up /
encounters . they are hand in league with land mafia , today C.M of
Karnataka himself issued a warning to police officials about this.
Even in lock-ups , jails, the rich inmates bribe
officials get better food from outside , mobile phones , drugs ,
drinks
, cigareetes , etc. they get spacious cells & get best private medical
care . where as the poor inmates are even denied food , health care ,
living space as per the provisions of law. The corrupt jail officials
instigate rowdy elements in the jails to assault poor inmates & to toe
their line. More corrupt the police more wealthier he is. Even CBI
officials are no different. The only beacon of hope is still there are
few honest people left in the police force.
Hereby , e-voice urges you to make public the
following
information in the interest of justice.
1.how many CBI officials & Karnataka state police  officials are
facing
charges of corruption , 3rd degree torture , lock-up/encounter deaths
, rapes , fake cases , etc ?
2.how you are monitoring the ever increasing wealth of corrupt police
officials?
3.how many officials from the ranks of constable to DGP have amassed
illegal wealth?
4.what action you have taken in these cases ? have you got
reinvestigated all the cases handled by tainted police?
5.how many policemen have been awarded death penalty & hanged till
death , for cold blooded murders in the form of lock-up deaths /
encounter deaths ?
6.why DGP of Karnataka is not registering my complaint dt 10/12/2004 ,
subsequent police complaints  ?
is it because rich & mighty are involved ?
7.e – voice is ready to bring to book corrupt police officials subject
to
conditions, are you ready ?
8.how many police personnel are charged with violations of people’s
human rights & fundamental rights ?
9.how many STF police deployed to nab veerappan were themselves
charged with theft of forest wealth?
10.how you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
inmates in jails?
11.how you are ensuring the medical care , health of prisoners in
hospitals & mental asylums?
12.How you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
inmates in juvenile homes ?

India’s secret torture chambers

They are our own Gitmos. Where, far away from the prying eyes of the law, ‘enemies of the state’ are made to ‘sing’. Life inside India’s joint interrogation cells can scar people for life. THE WEEK investigates
By Syed Nazakat
Little Terrorist, as the intelligence sleuths came to call him, turned out to be a hard nut to crack. No amount of torture would work on 20-year-old Mohammed Issa, who was picked up from Delhi on February 5, 2006. The Delhi Police believed that he had a hotline to Lashkar-e-Toiba deputy chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhwi, who later masterminded the 26/11 attack on Mumbai. At a secret detention centre in Delhi, the police and intelligence officers tried every single torture method in their arsenal—from electric shock to sleep deprivation—to make Issa sing. He stuck to his original line: that he had come from Nepal to visit a relative in Delhi. Only, they refused believe him.
According to the police, the youth from Uttar Pradesh, who had moved to Nepal in 2000 along with his family after his father, Irfan Ahmed, was accused in a terrorism case, returned to India to set up Lashkar modules in the national capital. More than six months after he was picked up, the police announced his arrest on August 14. He has since been shifted to the Tihar jail. His lawyer N.D. Pancholi said Issa was kept in illegal custody for months. If not, let the police say where he was between February 5 and August 15, he challenged.
Issa could have been detained in any of Delhi’s joint interrogation centres, used by the police and intelligence agencies to extract precious information from the detainees using methods frowned upon by the law. As one top police officer told THE WEEK in the course of our investigation, these torture chambers spread across the country are our “precious assets”. They are our own little Guantanamo Bays or Gitmos (where the US tortures terror suspects from Afghanistan and elsewhere for information).
Not many admit their existence, because doing so could result in human rights activists knocking at their doors and bad press for the smartly dressed intelligence men. It is a murky and dangerous world, according to K.S. Subramanian, Tripura’s former director-general of police, who has also served in the Intelligence Bureau. “Such sites exist and are being used to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists and it has been going on for a long time,” he told THE WEEK. “Even senior police officers are reluctant to talk about the system.” So are people who have been to these virtual hells that officially do not exist.
THE WEEK has identified 15 such secret interrogation centres—three each in Mumbai, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, two each in Kolkata and Gujarat and one each in Rajasthan and Assam. (One detention centre that is shared by all security and law enforcement agencies is the one in Palanpur, close to the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan.) Their locations have been arrived at after speaking to serving and retired top officers who had helped set up some of these facilities. Those who have spent time in these places had no idea where they are. They were taken blindfolded and were allowed no visitors. The only faces they got to see were those of the interrogators, day in and day out.
The biggest of the three detention centres in Mumbai, the Aarey Colony facility in Goregaon, has four rooms. The Anti-Terrorism Squad questioned Saeed Khan (name changed), one of the accused in the Malegaon blasts of September 2006, here. He was served food at irregular intervals (led to temporary disorientation) and was denied sleep. Another secret detention centre maintained in the city by the ATS at Kalachowky has a sound-proof room. Sohail Shaikh, accused in the July 2006 train bombings, was held here for close to two months. “He was kept in isolation for days together,” said an officer. “He crumbled after being subjected to hostile sessions. Intentional infliction of suffering does not always yield immediate results. Sometimes you have to wait for many days for the detainee to break. It is a tedious process.” The smallest of the three facilities at Chembur has just two rooms.
Parvez Ahmed Radoo, 30, of Baramula district in Kashmir, was illegally detained in Delhi for over a month for allegedly trying to plot mass murder in the national capital on behalf of the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The Delhi Police’s chargesheet says he was arrested from the Azadpur fruit market in Delhi on October 14, 2006. But according to Parvez’s flight itinerary, he travelled from Srinagar to Delhi on September 12 on Spice Jet flight 850. The flight landed at Delhi airport at 12.10 p.m. He had to catch another flight at 1.30 p.m. (Spice Jet flight 217) to Pune, where, according to his parents, he was going to pursue his Ph.D. But he never boarded the Pune flight as he disappeared from the Delhi airport.
Parvez wrote an open letter from the Tihar jail, where he is currently held, in which he said he was arrested from the airport on September 12 and kept in custody for a month. Apparently, he was first taken to the Lodhi Colony police station and then to an apartment in Dwarka, where electrodes were attached to his genitals and power was switched on. (Delhi’s secret detention centres are located at Dwarka in south-west Delhi, the Interstate Cell of the Crime Branch in Chanakyapuri in central Delhi, and the Lodhi Colony police station in south Delhi.)
“After my arrest on September 12, I was taken to Pune, where I was shown pictures of many Kashmiri boys,” Parvez said in the letter, which is in the possession of THE WEEK. “They wanted me to identify them. As I didn’t know any one of them, they brought me to Delhi again and threw me into the torture chamber of Lodhi Road [sic] police station. They took off my clothes and started beating me like an animal, so ruthlessly that my feet and fingers started bleeding. I was later forced to clean the blood-stained floor with my underwear. They gave me electric shocks and stretched my legs to extreme limits, resulting in internal haemorrhage. I started passing blood with my urine and stool. Later I was shifted to one flat in Dwarka. From the adjacent flats, voices of crying and screaming had been coming, indicating presence of other persons being tortured.”
Throughout his detention, wrote Parvez, he was asked to lie to his parents that everything was fine. In the letter he also gave the mobile number from which the calls were made—9960565152. His family is trying to collect the call site details of the number to prove his illegal detention.
Delhi-based journalist Iftikhar Geelani, who spent nine days in the Lodhi Colony police station after his arrest in 2002 on spying charges, is yet to get over the traumatic experience. “There are lock-ups with such low ceilings that a person will not be able to stand,” he said. “There is an interrogation centre within the police station where people are brutally tortured with cables, and some are completely undressed and abused. They also have a facility to raise the temperature of the cell to a point where it is unbearable and then suddenly bring it down to freezing cold.”
Assistant Commissioner Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for the Delhi Police, denied the existence of such facilities. “Nobody ever asked me the question [about secret detention centres],” he said. “We don’t operate any such facility in our police stations.”
But Maloy Krishna Dhar, former joint director of the IB, confirmed the existence of secret detention centres in Delhi and other parts of the country. He was convinced that detention outside the police station and torture are an inevitable part of the war on terrorism. “Now I would never dream of doing the things I did when I was in charge,” said Dhar. “But security agencies need such facilities.” Interrogating suspected terrorists at secret detention centres, he said, is the most effective way to gather intelligence. “If you produce a suspect before court, he will never give you anything after that,” he said. In other words, once you record the arrest you are within the realm of the law and you have to acknowledge the rights of the accused-arrested and contend with his lawyer.
An officer who worked in one of the detention centres admitted that extreme physical and psychological torture, based loosely on the regime in Guantanamo Bay, is used to extract information from the detainees. It includes assault on the senses (pounding the ear with loud and disturbing music) and sleep deprivation, keeping prisoners naked to degrade and humiliate them, and forcibly administering drugs through the rectum to further break down their dignity. “The interrogators isolate key operatives so that the interrogator is the only person they see each day,” he said. “In extreme cases we use pethidine injections. It will make a person crazy.”
Molvi Iqbal from Uttar Pradesh, a suspected member of the Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami who is currently lodged in Tihar, was held at a secret detention centre for two months according to his relatives. They alleged that during interrogation a chip was implanted under his skin so that his movements could be tracked if he tried to escape. “He fears that the chip is still inside his skin,” said one of his relatives. “That has shattered him.”
Kolkata has its own Gitmos in Bhabani Bhawan, the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department, and the Alipore Retreat in Tollygunj, a large bungalow that is said to have 20 rooms. They were bursting at the seams at the height of the Naxalite movement, but are more or less quiet now. “A large number of innocent people, as well as suspected terrorists, have disappeared after being taken to such secret detention centres,” said Kirity Roy, a Kolkata-based human rights lawyer. “Their bodies would later be found, if at all, in the fields.”
That was how militancy was tackled, first in Punjab and then in Kashmir. Today no secret prison exists in Kashmir officially after the notorious Papa-2 interrogation centre was closed down. But secret torture cells thrive across the state. The most notorious ones are the Cargo Special Operation Group (SOG) camp in Haftchinar area in Srinagar and Humhama in Budgam district. Then there are the joint interrogation centres in Khanabal area of Anantnag district and Talab Tillo and Poonch areas in Jammu region. Detentions at JICs could last months. Lawyers in Kashmir have filed 15,000 petitions since 1990 seeking the whereabouts of the detainees and the charges against them without avail.
The most recent victim of the torture regime was Manzoor Ahmed Beigh, 40, who was picked by the SOG from Alucha Bagh area in Srinagar on May 18. His family alleged that he was chained up, hung upside down from the ceiling and ruthlessly beaten up. He died the same night. Following public outrage, the officer in charge of the camp was dismissed from the service in June.
Maqbool Sahil, a Srinagar-based photojournalist who was held at Hariniwas interrogation centre for 15 days, says it is a miracle that he is alive today. “If you tell them [interrogators] you are innocent, they will torture you so ruthlessly that you will break down and confess to anything,” he says.
Human rights organisations are understandably concerned. Navaz Kotwal, coordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, said that there should be an open debate on the illegal detention centres. “The US had a debate on the Gitmos. Our government should come forward and respond to these allegations,” he said.
No one wants to compromise the nation’s safety, but the torture becomes unbearable, and questionable, when innocent people like the 14-year-old boy Irfan suffer (see box on page ). The security of the country and its people is important and terrorism should be crushed at all cost. But the largest democracy in the world should also ensure that human rights are not violated.
Dhar defended the secret prison system, arguing that the successful defence of the country required that the security establishment be empowered to hold and interrogate suspected terrorists for as long as necessary and without restrictions imposed by the legal system. “The primary mission of the agencies is to save the nation both by overt and covert means from any terrorist threat,” he said. “But to keep the programme secret is a horrible burden.”

with Anupam Dasgupta
(The Week, July 12, 2009)
INTERVIEW//K.S. Subramanian, former director general of police, Tripura
“It is a murky business”
By Syed Nazakat

Former director general of police, Tripura, Dr K.S. Subramanian, can be called an insider. He has served in the Intelligence Bureau, worked as director in the research and policy division of the home ministry and has been chief of intelligence in the troubled northeast. In an interview with THE WEEK, he shares his knowledge about the illegal detention centres in India. He is frustrated over the shadowy work of some police officers and over incidents like the killing of 59 innocent people, which the police called a naxal encounter. He recalls how a senior IPS officer shouted at ‘naxalites’ in a conference and said, “When I hear you people talk, I wish I had brought my revolver!” Excerpts.
There are allegations that suspected terrorists are being detained illegally in and out of police stations and tortured.
Unfortunately, priority is given to peace and order at the cost of law and justice, which might have led to the emergence of such facilities.
Have you come across such facilities during your service?
It is likely that such sites do exist and are used to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists. Perhaps they have existed for long. However, the Union home ministry is handicapped with regard to the information it receives on many issues of internal security. The IB, manned entirely by the IPS at the top, and the state police agencies are its main source of information. Often, their reports are biased and inadequate for policy formulation. I can cite many instances. In terrorist-related cases, the police may feel an incentive to describe people as terrorists and kill them for professional reasons and career advancement.
Who controls these illegal detention centres? What was your experience in the home ministry?
It is a murky business. Senior police officers would be hesitant to talk about the system in operation. The ministry of home affairs does not directly handle such operations; they are the task of agencies like the RAW and the IB. Public awareness about such activities can help check such illegalities, but you know that recently even agencies of advanced democracies such as the US have come to adverse notice for running such centres. President Obama has been courageous about admitting the unethical nature of such facilities in the US and trying to close them down. There is scope for a healthy debate on such issues in a vibrant democracy such as ours.
Many die inside these torture chambers.
Last year, the NGO People’s Watch brought out a disturbing report on police torture, which showed, after an extensive study in several states, that about 1.8 million people, most of them belonging to SC/ST communities, minorities and women, are victim to police torture every year in India. Shockingly, there has been no official refutation of this important report so far. I remember when I was director in the Union ministry of home affairs [between 1980 and 1985], there was a series of incidents in a north Indian state in which, according to the press, a large number of so called naxalites were killed in police action. There was uproar in Parliament. The state police and the central IB maintained that only 12 people were killed, and that all of them were naxalites.
However, when the state chief secretary was asked to come to the Union home ministry for a discussion, he frankly admitted that no less than 59 people were killed in these incidents and that none of them was a naxalite! Most of those killed were members of a local peasant organisation fighting for social justice under the Constitution and other laws of the land.
Many argue that to ensure peace, the country requires that the security establishment be empowered to hold and interrogate suspected terrorists for as long as necessary and without restrictions imposed by the legal system. Do you agree?
I know there is the fear of terrorism, and it’s a different world. But maintaining our moral compass during these difficult times, and the integrity of who we are as people, is enormously critical.  So to me, this isn’t just about illegal detention. It’s about the policies still in place that can contribute to establishment of our Gitmos.
How can the police deal with terrorism and at the same time uphold rule of law and human rights?
There are set rules for the police to follow. But the problem is that there is a tendency among some officers to believe that while dealing with suspected terrorists, they are not obliged to follow constitutional methods. Our leaders may say we don’t believe in torture, but many in our intelligence and police agencies think there is a place for torture in the investigation of cases, especially terrorist related. There is a need for attitudinal change in many police officers.

 (The Week, July 12, 2009)
Little Terrorist
By Syed Nazakat in Delhi

The playful spark of a 14-year-old is missing in Irfan’s eyes. Instead there is helplessness, pain, horror and a lurking fear. The dark shades could make him anything—a crusader, a criminal or plain timid. The training ground was a forlorn torture chamber somewhere in Gujarat.
The boy was picked up on May 25 last year allegedly by the Gujarat Police, who were in fact looking for his father, Mohammed Azhar. Irfan still remembers the white Tavera (GCIG-4522) that screeched to a halt in front of him as he was trying to cross the road outside his shop in Seelampur. Two men got out, held a pistol to his head and pushed him into the car. Later, they pinned him down with their feet, kicked him in the torso and slapped him several times. And when he tried to speak, he got a sharp jab in the ribs.
Lying on the floor of the car, the boy had no idea where he was being taken. His captors drove whole day and night and finally he was pulled out from the car into a detention centre, which had two black cells. He was dumped into one of them. There were no windows in the cell, yet from the honking of the vehicles and the occasional noise of a crowd, he guessed the place to be not far from the city.
The detention was almost a Guantanamo or an Abu Ghraib from his narration. His interrogators wore civilian dress, but were near cannibals in attitude. Irfan was interrogated by a tall person, whose name he doesn’t remember. “The man would brutally beat me up and tell me, ‘As long as your father does not surrender, we will not let you go’.”
Back home, Irfan’s mother, Tasleema, was frantically searching for him. Fortunately, his friends had seen the number plate of the Tavera. The family complained to the Seelampur police station, and three days later, Tasleema was told that her son was in the custody of Gujarat Police in Ahmedabad.She then filed a habeas corpus petition before the Delhi High Court, which directed the police to release the boy. Thus, after 10 days of detention, Irfan was brought back and released. On the court’s direction, the Seelampur police have lodged an FIR against the Gujarat Police.
Irfan’s tiny body is now a shambles. His mother says she was shattered when she heard about the torture her son had to bear. “Since his release, he is being treated for abdominal pain and discomfort,” she says. The boy’s ordeal has not ended yet. His family gets threat calls from the Gujarat Police, warning them not to appear before the court. Irfan’s father hasn’t yet returned home, making his family prone to more police harassment.
A day before the last hearing in the case, the police raided his home at 3 a.m. “We have lodged a report against the Gujarat Police,” Tasleema says. The Seelampur police station refused to comment on the case, but confirmed that an FIR has been filed against the Gujarat Police.
We got to know of the depth of Irfan’s fear only when we got up to leave. With tears in his eyes, he pleaded for our help. “Please save me from the police,” he says. He fears they might any day return for him.
(Name of the boy has been changed to protect identity)

(THE WEEK, July12, 2009)
Fifteen days of horror
By Maqbool Sahil

Once I was inside my cell, I wondered aloud: Where am I? A voice filtering through the slit in the steel door told me that I was in the Hariniwas interrogation chamber in Kashmir. I was picked up on September 16, 2006, by the Counter Insurgency Kashmir [a special wing of J&K Police that deals with terrorism-related cases] which accused me of spying for Pakistan. My family was not informed about my arrest.
When the interrogation started, I was least prepared for the ordeal. They bombarded me with questions: Who else is working with you for Pakistan? To whom are you sending pictures from Kashmir [he is a photo-journalist]? When they did not get the answers they wanted, the torture intensified. I was subjected to sleep deprivation and was denied food for the first three days. I was kicked and beaten with a rubber baton. They then chained my hands and left me hanging from the top of a door. They told me in no uncertain terms that unless I confessed that I was spying for Pakistan, I would not see my family again. I cried often. Sometimes I thought I would die in that dark torture cell and no one would ever know about it.
On the fifth day, my feet were manacled and I was ruthlessly beaten up. I then heard somebody outside say, “Don’t worry, I will make him speak.” I peered through the slit in the door and found that it was Senior Superintendent of Police Ashkhoor Wani, who headed the CIK. As a journalist I knew him for years. He was notorious but I had never imagined that one day I would become his prey.
The torture started afresh. My hands were tied behind with a rope, one end of which was rolled over a metal pipe fixed to the ceiling. They pulled the rope and I was hanging in mid-air. It was very painful. I felt as if my brain was going to burst. Every time I was subjected to this torture, I collapsed and lost consciousness. The torture would then stop, only to restart when I regained consciousness. When they tired of it, they stretched my legs wide and the balls of the joints were displaced. I could not walk properly for six months after that.
There were over 30 people detained there. I didn’t know where they were from. But they all were terrified and silent. After 15 days, the CIK prepared a dossier on me and I was detained under the Public Safety Act for over three years. I was released in January after the police failed to press charges against me in court.
The detention facility has since been shifted to Humhama area in Budgam district.
As told to Syed Nazakat

What Kind Of System Needs To Torture Prisoners?
By Li Onesto
01 August, 2011
Revcom.us

The courageous struggle of the prisoners at Pelican Bay should make many more people sit up and take notice and ask—and find the answers to—some important questions about the U.S. prison system.
Why does the U.S. , which has 5% of the world’s population, have 25% of its prisoners?
Why has the number of prisoners in the U.S. gone from half a million in 1980 to over 2.3 million in the last three decades?
Why are so many of those incarcerated in the U.S. people of color?
And why does the U.S. routinely carry out torture in its prisons?
The truth of the matter—and the bigger context for the inhumane conditions in maximum security units like the Pelican Bay Prison SHU—is that this system, with its police, laws, courts, and prisons is using mass incarceration to enforce oppressive economic and social relations, especially in terms of the systematic subjugation of Black people as a people. And I really encourage people to read the special Revolution issue on prisons, “From the Hellholes of Incarceration to a Future of Emancipation,” which provides a deep analysis of mass incarceration in the United States.
This system of U.S. capitalism, from its very inception , has, in large part, been built on and developed by carrying out the most brutal oppression of Native Americans, Black people and other people of color.
This oppression has been woven into the whole fabric of U.S. society, from the days of slavery until today. It has been and is an integral part of the economic and social structure in this country. White supremacy has and continues to maintain Black people in a subjugated position in every aspect of society. And all this has created, and today still maintains a “master class” of white people and a “pariah class” of Black people.
In this way, the systematic oppression of Black and other people of color has been, and continues to be, part of the very glue that holds U.S. society together—even as it has gone through different changes and been enforced in different ways. The outright ownership of Black people under slavery gave way to Jim Crow segregation and Ku Klux Klan terror. And now we have what has been called “the new Jim Crow” of police brutality and murder and the mass incarceration of hundreds of thousands of Black people.
The subjugation of Black people is a pillar of this system—a part of the economic and social relations in society, and white supremacy is a key element in the dominant ideology. And this is why this system cannot get rid of the oppression of Black people—because to do so would mean tearing up and undermining the whole economic, social and ideological/culture basis of U.S. society.
Why has there been such a drastic increase in the U.S. prison population? This has never been in response to crime—crime rates have actually gone down over the last three decades. This has been about control and suppression. It started in response to the mass upsurges among Black people in the ’60s—which shook the system and had a huge impact throughout society. At the same time, globalization and de-industrialization had devastated the inner cities and millions of Black people, especially the youth, who could no longer be profitably employed, were seen by this system as an unwanted, volatile “surplus” that had to be controlled. Concessions from the system, like programs that were supposed to address poverty and inequality, were being snatched back, leading to further impoverishment.
As the special Revolution issue on the oppression of Black people said, “Two things were at work: the needs of capital, which continued to gain advantage from racist discrimination and ghetto-ization of millions of African-Americans; and the necessity of the capitalists to not disrupt—and in fact to reassert and reinforce with a vengeance — the social glue of white supremacy—the ways in which the lie of the ‘master class’ were so integral to so many people’s understanding of ‘being American.’” (“The Oppression of Black People, The Crimes of This System and the Revolution We Need.”)
U.S. imperialism needed the subjugation of Black people more than ever, but could no longer do this in the naked, openly racist forms it had in the old Jim Crow. It is in this context that in 1969, H.R. Haldeman, President Nixon’s top assistant, wrote in his diary that “[Nixon] emphasized that you have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to.” It is in this context that the “war on drugs” was launched—which has been the biggest factor behind the exponential rise in mass incarceration.
Why are prisoners routinely tortured in U.S. prisons? The kind of extreme torture being carried out in places like the Pelican Bay SHU is a function of the whole way this system has criminalized, demonized and dehumanized a whole section of society. It has to do with repressing those who this system fears; those this system sees have the potential to rise up against their conditions of oppression in a way that would really challenge their rule. The kind of torture being carried out in the Pelican Bay SHU serves as a brutal way to control those in prison. And it has a broader effect of mass terror against Black people throughout society.
The terror carried out by KKK lynch mobs in the South meant that any Black person had to walk in fear. Today, police brutality and murder, the practice of racial profiling and random “stop and frisk”; and mass incarceration targeting Black people and all the terror that entails—means that today any Black person has to walk in fear.
Today, mass incarceration is the leading edge of the oppression of Black people. This continues to have a devastating impact on those who are imprisoned: Many lives are ruined; many youth are literally thrown away, their potential wasted. It is almost impossible for those this system has branded a “felon” to make any kind of life for themselves if they ever get out of prison. Having a criminal record means you will face legal discrimination in things like employment and housing for the rest of your life. All this is not only horrible for the individuals involved—it is a terrible thing for society. And all this has a broader devastating effect on mothers, fathers, spouses, children, and other loved ones; on the Black community as a whole. The “war on drugs”—and all it means in terms of taking away the rights and ability of Black people to get jobs, decent housing, etc.—is a way to continue the oppression of Black people, but with the veneer and appearance of equality.
The United States goes around claiming it is the “leader of the free world” and protector of democracy and human rights. But the prisoners’ hunger strike has objectively exposed the complete illegitimacy and hypocrisy of this system. This system is responsible for the torture of prisoners. The very needs and workings of this system have led to the mass incarceration of so many Black and Latino people. And getting rid of this system is the only way we can get to a whole different kind of society where there will no longer be the living hell of mass incarceration and the people as a whole can be truly liberated.
Revolution #241, July 31, 2011 ( revcom.us )
Li Onesto is the author of Dispatches from the People’s War in Nepal and a writer for Revolution newspaper ( www.revcom.us ). She can be contacted at: lionesto@gmail.com


Police reform and guide lines of National Human Right Commission

The police does not have right to take the life of any person. If by his act, the policeman kills a person, he commits an offence of culpable homicide or culpable homicide amounting to murder unless such killing is not an offence under the law. Under the criminal law prevailing in India, nothing is an offence which is done in exercise of right of private defence (section 96-106 of Indian Penal Code). But the right given under these sections of Indian Penal Code is not absolute right and they can be exercised under the restriction given in section 99 and 104 of same Act.
Section 46 of criminal procedure code empowers the police officer to use reasonable force, even extending up to causing death, if found necessary to arrest the person accused of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment of life. Thus, it is evident that death caused in an encounter, if not justify, would amount to an offence of culpable homicide.
So causing death of any person without reasons can not be justified. India is a welfare state and our constitution provides right to life and personal liberty. It includes living with human dignity. It is the duty of state to ensure the fundamental rights for every person.
However the torture of police has been increasing very rapidly from the last decade. The police encounter, custodial death, custodial rape, and the atrocities of police are day to day news. To reduce these events the Janta Party Govenmenat set up Soli Sorabji Panel, but before submission of the report the government fell down and the report had not been enforced and the arbitrariness of police had been promoted in every state. Recently Times of India news paper published that largest number of custodial death was registered in UP.
On 22nd September, 2006 the Supreme Court of India in case of Prakash Singh vs
Union of India in its historical decision ordered wide reformation in police organization.
Due to its impact the police organization would be able to work without political influential and adequate reformation can be made in law and order. It would help in reducing atrocities. Faced with Supreme Court directives to implement the much delayed   police reforms, union government has set in motion the process to bring a new police act, incorporating the suggestion of the Soli Sorabji Panel. The report has called for drastic changes in the 145 year old police act to introduce fixed two year tenure for police officers down the line from DGP to SHO, as well as separation of maintenance of law and order from crime investigation, duties.
Police law is continuing from the period of British which is based on police regulation Act, 1861. The object of police administration was to quash the Indian before independence and to maintain the English rule, but today the police administration is the part of India as a welfare state. So there is need to do basic change in Indian police system. The ‘police’ are the subject comes under state list of seventh schedule. Its provision is given in art. 245. So it is the subject of state and it is the responsibility of state to reform the police system. Following are the main points under police reformation:
The main objects of these reformations are to establish the accountability and sensitivity of police towards people which should be conducted through rule of law.
The second object of these reformations is to fix the tenure of police
officers. Their tenure is fixed for two year.
The selection procedure of DGP should be transparent and recommendation of their promotion should be made by Board of Public Services Commission (BPSC).
The State Government has been ordered to establish a state security commission, so that the State Government may not pressurize the police. This commission will ensure that the police will work according to constitution and law of country.
There shall be a Police Establishment Board in each state which shall decide all transfers, postions, promotions and other services related matters of officers of and below the rank of Dy.S.P. The State Government may interfere with the decision of the Board in exceptional cases, only after recording its reasons for doing so.
There shall be Police Complaint Authority at district level to look into the
complaints against police officer of and up to the rank of Dy.S.P. Similarly  there should be another Police Complaints Authority at the state level to look into complaints against officers of the rank of S.P. and above. The district level authority may be headed by retired district judge and the state level authority is headed by retired judge of High Court.
The National Government shall also set up a national level commission at the union level to prepare a panel for being placed before the appropriate appointing authority for selection and placement of chief of central police organization, who should be given a minimum tenure of two years.
As per the amendment made in criminal procedure code, section 176 makes the provision that if any dies or disappear or rape is alleged to have been committed on any women, when such person or women is in the custody of police or in any other custody authorized by magistrate or court under this code in addition to the inquiry or investigation held by police , any inquiry shall be held by Judicial Magistrate or Metropolitan Magistrate as the case may be within whose jurisdiction the offence has been committed. The Judicial Magistrate or Metropolitan Magistrate or Executive Magistrate or police officer holding an inquiry or investigation shall within 24 hours of death of such person, forward the body of deceased with a view to its being examined to the nearest civil surgeon or other qualified medical person appointed in this behalf by the state government unless it is not possible to so for reasons to be recorded in writing.
Apart from this, National Human Right Commission issued guide lines to all chief secretaries of state and administration of union territories in dealing with death occurring in encounters with police on 29/03/1997 and on 2/12/2003 a revised guidelines have been issued and it was emphasized that state must send information to the commission of all cases of death arising out of police encounters. Following are the revised guidelines:
When the police officer in charge o f a police station receives information about the death in an encounter between the police party and others, he shall enter that information in the appropriate register.
Where the police officer belonging to the same police station are members of the encounter party, whose action resulted in death, it is desirable that such cases are made over for investigation to some other independent investigating agency, such as State CBCID. •
Whenever a specific complaint is made against the police alleging commission of a criminal act on their part, which makes out a cognizable case of culpable homicide, am FIR to this effect must be registered under appropriate sections of the IPC. Such case shall invariably be investigated by State CBCID.
A magisterial inquiry must invariably be held in all cases of death which occur in the course of police action. The next of kin of the deceased must invariably be associated in such inquiry.
Prompt prosecution and disciplinary action must be initiated against all delinquent officers found guilty in the magisterial enquiry/ police investigation.
Question of granting compensation to the dependents of the deceased
would depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case.
No out of turn promotion or instant gallantry rewards shall be bestowed on the concerned officers soon after the occurrence. It must be ensured at all costs that such reward are given / recommended only when the gallantry of the concerned officers is established beyond doubt.
A six monthly statement of all case of death in police action in the State shall be sent by the Director General of Police to the Commission so as to reach its office by the 15th of January and July respectively. The statement may be sent in the following format along with the postmortem reports and inquest reports wherever available and also the inquiry reports:
1. Date and place of occurrence
2. Police station and district
3. Circumstances leading to deaths
i. Self defence in encounter.
ii. In the course of dispersal of unlawful assembly.
iii.In the course of effecting arrest.
4. Brief facts of the incident
5. Criminal case no.
6. Finding of the magisterial inquiry by senior officers
a. disclosing in particular names and designation of police
officials, if found responsible for the death; and
b. whether use of force was justified and action taken was
lawful.
Along with above guidelines the then CJI send their request to all the state and territories
to adhere these guidelines in letter and spirit both.
National projects on torture in India: demands that
Ratified the un convention against torture and its optional protocol
Enact legislation to prevent corporal punishment in schools.
Enact a domestic legislation that makes torture a punishable offence and provides
for the protection and care of victims and witnesses.
Enforce strict implementation of the Preventation Of Atrocities Act,1989
Establish District Human Right Courts under the protection of Human Right Act,
1993
Now the time has come to reform the entire police system to prevent the police torture of innocent people. The constitution of India establishes the India as a welfare state, which can be achieved only after following the police reformation and implement the ruling of the apex court. The police should be people friendly. The efforts should be made at every level and the parliament should pass the law and new Police Act should be made by parliamentarians. This will be helpful in reducing the police torture and it will fulfill the real sense of policing.



Veerappan’s wife seeks CBI probe into STF atrocities

The wife of slain forest brigand Veerappan, V Muthulakshmi, has sought a detailed CBI probe into alleged atrocities committed on tribals and villagers in MM Hills by personnel of the Special Task Force constituted to nab her husband in the 1990s.
Muthulakshmi welcomed the recent Karnataka high court order striking down Shankar M Bidari’s appointment as DG&IG. “But there is still need for a CBI probe into STF atrocities; he was a commandant of that force,” she said on Friday.
She alleged Bidari and his team had tortured women, who had no connection with Veerappan, including her. “He administered electric shocks to parts of my body which I cannot even explain. Many women took their lives, orphaning their children,” she said.
Muthulakshmi alleged that the film being made on her husband’s life – ‘Attahasa’ (in Kannada) and ‘Vamayudham’ (Tamil version) – by filmmaker MR Ramesh, is full of lies. She has approached Madras high court seeking a stay on its making. “The film infringes on my right to privacy,” she added.
‘He was a good man’
“Avar Nallavar (He was a nice man),” Muthulakshmi said about her husband, brigand Veerappan, eight years after he was killed in police action.
“It is politicians and police who spoiled him. I know those netas but do not want to take their names,” she told TOI. “I am not saying he was faultless. He had shot a few elephants for ivory and axed some sandalwood trees. But he also planted sandalwood saplings, saying the forest shouldn’t be emptied,” she said.

Shankar Bidari worse than Saddam Hussain, Gaddafi: HC

In a scathing verdict, Karnataka High Court today struck down appointment of Shankar Bidari as state DGP and IG, describing him as “worse than Saddam Hussain or Muammar Gaddafi” for alleged atrocities committed by the STF led by him during the hunt to nab forest brigand Veerappan.
Dismissing as “without merit and substance”, petitions by the government and Bidari, challenging the CAT order, the division bench headed by Justice N Kumar held his empanelment by UPSC and consequent appointment as “void and illegal.”
Upholding the verdict of Central Administrative Tribunal the court said “in the facts of the case, we cannot find any infirmity in the said decision. It is just”.
It struck down Bidari’s contentions “absolving himself of the responsibility” of atrocities by stating he was only Deputy Commander of the Joint Task Force of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to nab Veerappan and not “omnipresent and omnipotent like Saddam Hussain or Muammar Gaddafi.”
“Though he was not one of them, if what the two women (tribals) have said in their affidavit is true, he is worse than them” (Saddam Hussain and Muamar Gadaffi),the court said in its acerbic observations.
The court directed the government should relieve Bidari forthwith and appoint A R Infant in his place. “Otherwise they are answerable to the public of the state”.
The court dismissed the memo filed by the government seeking a one week stay of the order. It observed “if the state government has any respect for the rule of law, womanhood, human rights, concern for the downtrodden, tribals, and socially backward communities of the state, they should relieve the third respondent (Bidari) forthwith and appoint the applicant (A R Infant) in that place.”
On March 16, CAT had set aside Bidari’s appointment as DGP and IG and ruled that Infant should be appointed ad hoc police chief till the government decides on the new appointment.
CAT said government should prepare a fresh list of senior IPS officers and send it to UPSC, which would suggest three names for the top post.
On the court verdict, Infant told PTI “I am lucky that my case was tried by judges with great conviction, both at CAT and High Court. I admire their courage of conviction”.
Observing that Chief Minister should have used his discretion while exercising his absolute power in selecting Bidari for the post, the court stated “……but such discretionary power must be exercised with great caution…..the Chief Minister before exercising his power did not see the police records”.
Quoting extracts from the National Human Rights Commission report, which was not placed before the Union Public Service Commission before empanelment as it was not considered “relevant”, the court stated that NHRC concluded that one woman was a victim of rape and repeated torture, three women were subjected electric currents through different parts of their body, seven subjected to illegal detention and assault, three suffered permanent disability, 11 stripped naked and given electric shocks, 12 unlawfully detained, one was taken into custody but never returned and 60 were killed in encounters out of 36 were killed in “false encounters”.
Referring to the affidavits filed by tribal women Erammal and Nagi before an NGO which was produced before the court and indicted Bidari, the court stated “Erammal was taken to Dimbam police camp, beaten with a lathi as a result of which she lost sight in her right eye, She was then taken Mahadeshwara camp where she was stripped naked, beaten and given electric shocks in different parts of her body in front of Bidari”.
The court then cited the instance of Nagi who taken to the M M Hills camp, was blindfolded and interrogated by Bidari who passed currents through different parts of her body and then she was gang raped.
The court observed that though the then governments accepted the recommendations of the NHRC accorded compensation to the victims and then DG and IG (Achutha Rao) promised to initiate action against the perpetrators, no action was initiated. Probably they (the then CMs) lacked the “political will and courage” to direct action against these acts.
Taking a swipe at the present day politics, the court observed “people who are in opposition party preach values, criticise the acts of the ruling party. Gullible public believe them and they are voted to power, but when they come to power they realise it is very difficult to practice what they preach and when they are seated in super power (ruling party) all these values evaporate. They succumb to corruption. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
Therefore it is immaterial, the court observed which party comes to power, what ideology they believe in, what principles they preach. Once they come to power, they become the ruling party. This is the democracy which is in practice.
It appears that the present day state government and Bidari after occupying the present position seems to have forgotten was was said 15 years back, the court observed. “By characterising this report as “one without jurisdiction, giving the impression that it was not a document of any importance…..government of the day and Bidari are afraid of truth….we are convinced that the report of the Sadashiv Panel, NHRC was deliberately kept back”, the court obseved.
There is no disputing the fact, the court stated, that the record of Bidari during his tenure in STF of Karnataka and his bio-data which was prepared by himself wherein he stated the exemplary service that he rendered that won him the gallantry award and a cash prize of Rs 1.68 crore, was placed before the UPSC. “This is the positive side of the story that was placed before the UPSC”.
What is clear from the report, the court observed is there were allegations against STF personnel of Karnataka that they committed atrocities on innocent villagers of 48 villages, committed murder, false encounters, rape and torture and 20 written complaints were filed before the NHRC.
On Bidari’s contention that he was not personally indicted by NHRC, the court observed that the NHRC has categorically stated that it has not indicted any one as it has been unable to identify the perpetrators of the acts. “This only shows the fairness and application of judicial mind”.
The court observed “from the report, it is clear that atrocities were committed by police on the instructions of R3 and while the state and the police assured of action against the culprits, no action has been till date.
What is to be considered, the court observed is whether such a person who has “no concern for women, her rights, her safety and that of the poor tribals, downtrodden and socially backward classes. A person with such a bent of mind can head the state police force to maintain law and order, whether their (public) interests are safe in such hands.
These are the facts which UPSC and the state Chief Minister should have considered while exercising the power conferred on him and it is these factual findings of the Sadashiva panel and the NHRC which the government should have placed before the UPSC. “In the absence of such material, the assessment by the UPSC and state government is vitiated”, the court said.
Reflecting on the mindset of Bidari, who wants to absolve himself from the responsibility stating that he was only acting under the supervision and control of Walter Davaram, the commander of the STF, the court observed “even after 15 years, there is no remorse, he is not prepared to accept the responsibility……..whatever may the provocation, we cannot tolerate for a second rape…… as a means of investigation by the police”.
Finally, in an message to the Chief Minister, the court stated “it is not a legal issue but a moral issue. As a head of the state, what are the various concerns, what is the message he is sending has to be kept in mind. Even now it is not too late to keep the interests of the public in mind and assure that previous dispensation would not be repeated and appropriate action taken”.


AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT
AI Index: ASA 20/002/2008
(Public)
Date: 18 January 2008

India: Many adivasi victims of Special Task Force (STF) operations yet
to get justice and compensation in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

Amnesty International is concerned that several adivasi (indigenous
and marginalized communities) victims of the decade-long Special Task
Force (STF) operations against Veerappan, who was killed by the STF
after being outlawed for sandalwood smuggling, are yet to receive
justice and compensation for the human rights violations perpetrated
against them. Human rights violations perpetrated in the course of
operations against Veerappan included unlawful killings; arbitrary
detention; and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment (ill-treatment), including sexual violence.
Amnesty International has learnt that, one year after an official
panel of inquiry led by Justice A. J. Sadashiva ordering the
Government of Karnataka to pay compensation to 51 victims, 13 of them
have yet to receive it. The Government of Tamil Nadu has paid
compensation amounts to 38 victims as directed in the order. In
January 2007, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had directed
the two governments to pay compensation to 89 victims as per the
recommendations of the panel of inquiry.
Notwithstanding the above order, during the past year, human rights
organizations in the two states have been campaigning to ensure
justice for 104 other victims whose complaints of human rights
violations including arbitrary and indefinite detention, torture,
including to death, other ill-treatment and sexual assault were
reportedly ignored by the panel. The panel also failed to initiate
charges against any of the 39 STF officials named as perpetrators by
the victims during the proceedings, though it concluded that the STF
had perpetrated torture. However, Amnesty International has learnt
that a number of complaints against 39 STF officials have nevertheless
been filed by the victims in several police stations in Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka.
In spite of the filed complaints, a number of STF personnel named as
perpetrators in the victims’ complaints were given awards and
promotions; furthermore, some of the officials named by the victims
were reportedly present in an official function held to distribute
compensation amounts in Karnataka in March 2007, leading to protests
from the victims.
As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, India is obliged to “ensure that any person whose rights or
freedoms… are violated shall have an effective remedy”; to “ensure
that any person claiming such a remedy shall have his right thereto
determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative
authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for by the
legal system of the State, and to develop the possibilities of
judicial remedy”; and to “ensure that the competent authorities shall
enforce such remedies when granted.”
Amnesty International, therefore, urges
•     the Government of Karnataka to immediately distribute compensation
amounts to the 13 remaining victims as per the January 2007 order;
•     the authorities of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to thoroughly
investigate the pending human rights complaints against the 39 STF
officials and bring those suspected of perpetrating violations to
justice, in proceedings which meet international standards of fairness
and without the imposition of the death penalty;
•     immediately suspend the officials named in the complaints from
active duty pending completion of investigations;
and
•     the NHRC to participate in the above cases to help to ensure that
there is justice for the victims.
•     the NHRC to re-examine victims’ complaints ignored by the official
panel.
Background
In 1993, the Governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had created the
STF to catch Veerappan and his associates who had remained outlawed
for more than seven years. On 21 October 2004, Veerappan and two of
his associates were killed during the STF operations. In all, 36
persons lost their lives during the STF operations.
In June 1999, the NHRC appointed the official panel, consisting of
Justice Sadashiva and a former Director-General of India’s premier
investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The
panel submitted its recommendations in December 2003.

FAKE ENCOUNTERS , LOCK-UP DEATHS & 3RD DEGREE TORTURE BY POLICE IN  INDIA

Recently, it has been reported in the media , how in gujarath state
high ranking police officials took SUPARI to murder & committed the
murders by giving it the name of encounter. Nowadays , it has become
common place that police take law into their own hands , settle
scores , conducts their own courts of justice like compromise
panchayaths at police stations. All these acts of police are illegal ,
the police must be first thought the lessons of law before enforcing
it. The murderers , criminals in police uniform must be punished at
the earliest.
At the outset , HRW salutes the few honest police personnel who are
silently doing their duties inspite of pressures , harassment by
political bosses & corrupt superiors , inspite of frequent transfers ,
promotion holdups , etc. overcoming the lure of bribe ,those few are
silently doing their duties without any publicity or fanfare. we
salute them & pay our respects to them and hereby appeal to those few
honest to catch their corrupt colleagues.
The police are trained , to crack open the cases of crimes by just
holding onto a thread of clue. Based on that clue they investigate
like “Sherlock holmes” and apprehend the real criminals. nowadays ,
when police are under various pressures , stresses – they are
frequently using 3rd degree torture methods on innocents. Mainly there
are 3 reasons for this :
1) when the investigating officer (I.O) lacks the brains of Sherlock
holmes , to cover-up his own inefficiency he uses 3rd degree
torture on innocents.
2) When the I.O is biased towards rich , powerful crooks , to frame
innocents & to extract false confessions from them , 3rd degree
torture is used on innocents.
3) When the I.O is properly doing the investigations , but the higher-
ups need very quick results – under work stress I.O uses 3rd degree
torture on innocents.
Nowhere in statuette books , police are legally authorized to punish
let alone torture the detainees / arrested / accussed / suspects. Only
the judiciary has the right to punish the guilty not the police. Even
the judiciary doesn’t have the right to punish the accussed /
suspects , then how come police are using 3rd degree torture
unabetted. Even during encounters , police only have the legal right ,
authority to immobilize the opponents so as to arrest them but not to
kill them.
There is a reasoning among some sections of society & police that use
of 3RD DEGREE TORTURE by police is a detterent of crimes. It is false
& biased. Take for instance there are numerous scams involving 100′s
of crores of public money – like stock scam , fodder scam , etc
involving rich businessmen , VVIP crooks. Why don’t police use 3rd
degree torture against such rich crooks and recover crores of public
money where as the police use 3rd degree torture against a pick-
pocketer to recover hundred rupees stolen ? double standards by
police.
In media we have seen numerous cases of corrupt police officials in
league with criminals. For the sake of bribe , such police officials
bury cases , destroy evidences , go slow , frame innocents , murder
innocents in the name of encounter , etc. why don’t police use 3rd
degree torture against their corrupt colleagues who are aiding
criminals , anti nationals ? double standards by police.
All the bravery of police is shown before poor , innocents , tribals ,
dalits , before them police give the pose of heroes. Whereas ,
before rich , VVIP crooks , they are zeroes. They are simply like
scarecrows before rich crooks.
Torture in any form by anybody is inhuman & illegal. For the purpose
of investigations police have scientific investigative tools like
polygraph, brain mapping , lie detector , etc. these scientific tools
must be used against rich crooks & petty criminals without bias.
hereby we urge the GOI & all state governments :
1) to book cases of murder against police personnel who use 3rd degree
torture on detainees and kill detainees in the name of encounter
killings.
2) To dismiss such inhuman , cruel personnel from police service and
to forfeit all monetary benefits due to them like gratuity , pension ,
etc.
3) To pay such forfeited amount together with matching government
contribution as compensation to family of the victim’s of 3rd degree
torture & encounter killings.
4) To review , all cases where false confessions were extracted from
innocents by 3rd degree torture.
5) To make liable the executive magistrate of the area , in whose
jurisdiction torture is perpetrated by police on innocents.
6) To make it incumbent on all judicial magistrates ,to provide a
torture free climate to all parties , witnesses in cases before his
court.
7) To make public the amount & source of ransom money paid to forest
brigand veerappan to secure the release of matinee idol mr. raj kumar.
8) To make public justice A.J.Sadashiva’s report on “torture of
tribals , human rights violations by Karnataka police in M.M.HILLS ,
KARNATAKA”.
9) To make it mandatory for police to use scientific tools of
investigations like brain mapping , polygraph , etc without bias
against suspects rich or poor.
10) To include human rights education in preliminary & refresher
training of police personnel.
11) To recruit persons on merit to police force who have aptitude &
knack for investigations.
12) To insulate police from interference from politicians & superiors.
13) To make police force answerable to a neutral apex body instead of
political bosses. Such body must be empowered to deal with all service
matters of police.
14) The political bosses & the society must treat police in a humane
manner and must know that they too have practical limitations. Then on
a reciprocal basis , police will also treat others humanely.
15) The police must be relieved fully from the sentry duties of
biggies & must be put on detective , investigative works.

Answer  My  Lord ???

Stage set for arrest of suspended Andhra CBI judge

  The stage was Saturday set for the arrest of suspended Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge in a cash-for-bail scam which has sent shock waves among the judiciary across the state.


After receiving a nod from Andhra Pradesh High Court to register a case, the CBI may arrest any time First Additional CBI Judge T. Pattabhirama Rao on charges of taking bribe to grant bail to former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy in an illegal mining case, sources here said.
CBI sources said the investigative agency would register a first information report before carrying out the arrests.
An Andhra Pradesh cabinet minister, two Karnataka legislators, a retired judge, a rowdy sheeter and the suspended judge’s son are also believed to have played a role in striking the deal.
The exact deal amount remained a mystery but it is believed to be anywhere between Rs.5 crore and Rs.15 crore.
The judge allegedly demanded Rs.15 crore but the deal was finally struck for Rs.10 crore. He allegedly received Rs.3 crore as advance before granting bail to Reddy May 11 in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case.
The CBI Friday recovered part of the amount from bank lockers belonging to the judge’s son.
The CBI, which grew suspicious of the judge’s action, started investigations after a go-ahead from high court Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur.
The investigators tapped the judge’s phone and questioned him, his son and others. The chief justice was informed of the preliminary investigations and, based on this, he suspended the judge late Thursday.
Janardhana Reddy’s family allegedly approached the judge through Yadagiri, a rowdy sheeter of Nacharam area in Hyderabad, who then got in touch with a retired judge. A state minister is also suspected to have helped in the deal.
Janardhana Reddy’s brother and Karnataka legislator G. Somasekhara Reddy allegedly met the middlemen in a hotel in Hyderabad to finally strike the deal. The accused’s brother allegedly handed over the money, brought from Bellary town in Karnataka.
Despite Pattabhirama granting the bail, the mining baron remained in Bangalore jail, where he is lodged in another illegal mining case.
On a petition by the CBI, the high court later stayed the bail.
The mining baron was arrested by the CBI from Bellary Sep 5 last year in a case of illegal mining in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.


Judge suspension: CBI claims Rs.1.80 crore recovererd from locker

The CBI claims to have recovered nearly Rs. 1.80 crore here from a bank locker, the keys of which were allegedly in possession of the son of Special CBI court judge T. Pattabhiramaa Rao, who has been suspended on charges of bribery and corruption by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
The agency had carried the search based on a source based input that a deal was allegedly struck between Rao and former Karnataka Minister G. Janardhana Reddy for granting bail to the latter in the illegal mining case, CBI sources said today.
Before proceeding with the search, the CBI officials took Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court in confidence and apprised him about the input received by them, they said.
After getting a green signal from the Chief Justice, a CBI team got the locker opened and recovered nearly Rs. 1.80 crore from it which the agency suspects belonged to Reddy and was allegedly given as illegal gratification, they said.
The sources claimed that the officials found the keys of the lockers to be in possession of Judge’s son.
The matter was again put before the Chief Justice who ordered suspension of Rao, they said. Senior officials of the agency said there are three options – the case is probed by local police, CBI files a new FIR or adding the charges in the ongoing trial against Reddy.
They however added that any further action could take place only after getting permission from the High Court.
“First Additional Special Judge for CBI cases Pattabhirama Rao has been placed under suspension after the High Court considered the information it received against the judge in ‘public interest’, the High Court Registrar said in a release.
Incidentally, the judge had granted bail to former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy in the OMC illegal mining case last month while he had rejected bail to IAS officer Y. Srilakshmi, another accused in the OMC scam.


The need for a Judges Accountability Bill
By  Vicky Nanjappa

Off late there is a lot of talk regarding the necessity to have a Judges Accountability Bill. Even when the Lokpal Bill was being debated the inclusion of judges into this bill was strongly opposed by the government despite members of the civil society urging the government to make such an inclusion.
Off late there have been reports galore regarding judges being offered sites or houses under the discretionary quota of the Chief Minister. Recently there was an expose at the Orissa High Court. Prior to this there were reports from Karnataka and also another report which spoke about how the Narendra Modi government had offered prime lands to judges of the High Court.
The big question is whether judges deserve such treatment from the state government considering the fact that the government is the biggest litigant before any court in the country? Is this an illegality or is it corruption?
Justice Santhosh Hegde, former judge of the Supreme Court of India says it is illegal to accept sites under the discretionary quota. Judges ought to know that while accepting such sites they are succumbing to temptation. They have to examine any such offer and find out properly whether it is in accordance with law or not. It is very dangerous to accept such favours since in the days to come it would hold against themselves.
Speaking of a judges accountability bill, well there is one but it has not come out as yet. This has been loitering around for some years now and it is time that something is done about it. In fact while we were discussing the Lokpal bill this was one of the primary contentions during the debate. Either the government had to include it into the Lokpal Bill or make functional the judges accountability bill. However there was a lot of misunderstanding regarding this. All I said was it was not right to leave out the judges when we are fighting corruption. They should include this portion into the Lokpal bill. However once the Judges Accountability Bill is made functional then it could be deleted out of the Lokpal bill. There was no need to keep this in abeyance until that happened. When this issue is being argued and fought for the past 44 years then it is impertive for the government to include it.
Senior Advocate in the Karnataka High Court, Navkesh Batra is of the view that taking sites under the discretionary quota is nothing but corruption. First and foremost Judges are not entitled for a site under this quota. This quota is meant for poor people, outstanding people including judges. It cannot be given as a bul allotment as it amounts to nothing but a sop. When the government is the biggest litigant before any court in India then such a sop does not instill confidence in the public and it would be better if both the government and the judiciary abstains from such an act. Here I would like to quote the incident involving the great Justice R A Jagirdhar of the Bombay High Court. In fact he was the only judge who refused to apply for a site despite a request by the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He even went one step further and at a public function when the CM sought to shake his hand he publicly rebuked him by saying, ” Mr CM your cases are pending before the high court. As a high court judge I refuse to shake your hand.”

LAND SCAM   IN   TAMILNADU   One for my officer, one for my boy…

Land and property are coveted assets. So why are chief ministers allowed to give these away as favours? JEEMON JACOB tracks how Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has been using his quotas

ILLUSTRATION: ANAND NAOREM
IN NOVEMBER, Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yeddyurappa almost lost his job, due to the uproar over preferential allotment of land and property to his sons and close associates. He has since cancelled the allotments, asked his children to move out of his official residence, and retained his seat through some deft political manoeuvring and muscle-flexing. At the height of the campaign against him, as political opponents paraded on apparent moral high ground, TEHELKA published details of plots similarly allotted by previous Karnataka chief ministers, both of the Congress and the JD(S), to relatives, servants, drivers, maids and partymen (LAND SCAM 2.0, 4 December). The purpose was not to make Yeddyurappa’s wrongdoings look less shocking, but to show that the problem was endemic and needed rooting out. The right given to chief ministers to hand out public land to a favoured few — relatives, bureaucrats, judges, police officers and others — smacks of nepotism and arbitrary feudal power structures that should have no place in a modern democracy. (Though there is no immediate proof of this, some of these allotments could also be benamitransactions, in which the ultimate ownership remains with the distributor of the largesse, camouflaged by a stack of fake documents.)
This power — euphemistically called “discretionary quota” — has even been used to favour allegedly corrupt army officers like General Deepak Kapoor (AT EASE WITH GREASE, TEHELKA, 20 November), who was given a large 500 sq yd plot in Haryana by the Hooda government, which then faced the embarrassment of refusing him permission to sell it off before five years had elapsed, as per rules. The plot was given to him by the government as preferential allotment in recognition for his ‘outstanding achievement’.
This week, continuing its campaign against out-of-turn allotments of land and property, TEHELKA has an exposé on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. The Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) which commands a large land bank, has a government discretionary quota (GDQ) under which 15 percent of all allotments can be recommended by the CM. Eligibility for allotment under GDQ is as follows: single/deserted women; widows; social workers; physically handicapped persons; defence personnel; ex-servicemen; eminent persons in the field of science, arts, literature, economics, public administration and sports; freedom fighters; government servants with unblemished service records; employees of PSUs, central government undertakings and nationalised banks; PF institutions; journalists; university staff; and employees of local bodies and municipalities.
While some of these categories sound kosher, most of them raise a fundamental question: why should the government have the power to give coveted land to select employees and journalists over others? The only rationale could be proximity — which is an untenable reason for being the beneficiary of political favours, often worth several crores.
Setting this aside, even within the legal ambit of the GDQ, TEHELKA’s investigation shows that many of the allotments in Karunanidhi’s tenure have violated the rule book. Many bureaucrats and their relatives have been given plots or flats under the category of “social worker”. Some of these last did social work when they were in college; many of them claim to be volunteers in such routine activity as helping in blood donation or eye camps. Many have issued certificates to themselves; some have acquired letters from the Lions and Rotary Clubs with vague endorsements. In other violations, the rules say that no one who has any other land or property in Tamil Nadu or any other capital city, in either their own or spouse or minor children’s name, can apply for GDQ allotments. TEHELKA found this is routinely violated.
Many of the allottees issued certificates to themselves, while some got letters from Lions and Rotary Clubs
The other brazen violation lies in the claim of “unblemished” service records as a qualification for allotment. When RTI activist V Gopalakrishnan sought a list of such bureaucrats, Additional Secretary S Solomon Raj said, “As no unblemished government servant certificates are issued, the question of furnishing a list of names does not arise.” The additional secretary also clarified that the home department didn’t have such a list. This is the phantom category under which many public servants like Jaffar Sait, 1986 batch IPS officer, now Inspector General of Police–Intelligence, got large allotments of land in prime locations. Why them more than hundreds of others? That’s a democratic question the chief minister will have to answer.
jee…@gmail.com

Legal Largesse

R Bhanumathi
Serving Judge, Madras High Court
FLAT NOS: MIG 249-250, SHOLINGANALLUR PHASE III, CHENNAI
DATE: 30 MARCH 2008
SIZE: 120 SQ M & 139 SQ M
PRICE: Rs. 27.55 LAKH & Rs. 30.05 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: NA
VIOLATIONS
The judge was allotted two adjoining plots on the same day (30 March 2008). According to her Disclosure of Assets statement of 2009, the judge already had a house in her name, and another plot in her husband, advocate K Ganesan’s name. The house, in the Uthangarai area of Krishnagiri district, was constructed in 1985 on a plot purchased in 1982. The plot of land is located in Saidapet and was purchased in 1993. She however admits in her declaration that she owns two plots, which she purchased from the TN Housing Board in 2008. But this allocation was made under the General Category. Since judges do not come under any of the quota categories, the government’s way of allotting land to them differs from the rest. Judges are informed about the availability of land. And when they apply for the same, the government facilitates the allotment.

K Raviraja Pandian
Retired Justice, Madras High Court
PLOT NO: B2/5, THIRUVANMIYUR EXTENSION
DATE: 11 NOVEMBER 2009
SIZE: 3,117 SQ FT
PRICE: Rs. 68.54 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 3.2 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
Close relative of DMK supremo Karunanidhi and the Chairman of the School Fee Determination Committee. Little wonder then he was also the recipient of special favours while he was still a serving judge. At the time of the allotment, the judge owned a 50 percent share in an ancestral house at Thiruveezhimizhalai village. The judge had also sold a property he owned at Pazhavatthankattali village near Kumbakonam. The land was purchased in 1991, a house was constructed on it in 1992 and sold in 2009. He had also sold the landed property of his wife in 2009.
V Ambika
Advocate
PLOT NO: A8, KADAPERY, MADHURANTHAGAM
DATE: 16 FEBRUARY 2008
SIZE: 2,285 SQ FT
PRICE: Rs. 4.54 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 15 LAKH
VIOLATIONS
The advocate owned landed property in more than one location when she was allotted the plot — one vacant house site in Karanai Puducheri village and another in Katrampakkam village, in Kancheepuram district. Her husband, Justice M Satyanarayanan of the Madras High Court, in his Disclosure of Assets, stated that he owns a repurchased MIG flat constructed in 1969 at Indra Nagar in Chennai. Ambika was allotted land under the GDQ.
Bureaucratic Bonanza

Jaffar Sait
IGP-Intelligence
FLAT NOS: 540, THIRUVANMIYUR, KAMARAJ NAGAR
DATE: 23 APRIL 2008
SIZE: 4,756 SQ FT
PRICE: Rs. 1.26 CRORE
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 6 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
Allotted under ‘unblemished’ government servant category. On 6 June 2008, the government transferred the ownership of the plot to his daughter Jennifer Jaffar, then a student. Jennifer made two payments of Rs. 46.03 lakh and Rs.1.73 lakh towards cost of the plot. In February 2009, she paid another Rs.60 lakh. After having paid Rs.1.07 crore, the ownership of plot was transferred to her mother Parvin Jaffar. Interestingly, Parvin also made the payment all over again. In October 2009, she paid Rs. 50.64 lakh and then again in November 2009, another Rs. 25 lakh was deposited. A further payment of Rs. 51.5 lakh in the same month was made. Income tax officials feel the Sait family made the double payment to avoid an IT investigation on Jennifer, who would not have been able to show any source of income. The Tamil Nadu Housing Board then returned the original amount paid by Jennifer. Now, Parvin in collaboration with Durga Sankar, son of an IAS officer, has commissioned a builder to construct a multi-storey complex in which 12 flats have already been built. Each flat is expected to fetch an estimated 1 crore. So, by paying Rs. 1.26 crore in 2009, the IGP’s family made a profit of more than Rs. 5.7 crore.
G Prakash
Joint Secretary, Industries
PLOT NO: S6, THIRUVANMIYUR EXTENSION
DATE: 6 MAY 2008
SIZE: 3,829 SQ FT
PRICE: Rs. 76.58 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 4 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
The former district collector of Tirunelveli issued himself a certificate for unblemished government service.

CK Gariyali
Retired IAS, Secretary to Governor at the time of allotment
FLAT NOS: S4, THIRUVANMIYUR EXTENSION
DATE: 7 MAY 2008
SIZE: 6,023 SQ FT
PRICE: Rs. 1.20 CRORE. PAYMENT WAS MADE IN 33 INSTALMENTS FROM 18 JULY 2008 TO 6 MARCH 2009
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 6.8 CRORE (APPROX)
VIOLATIONS
Her husband Dr S Rajakumar has a house in Chennai.
Sumathi Ravichandran
Former Regional Passport Officer, Chennai, and close relative of DMK minister K Anbazhagan
PLOT NO: 1050 HIG, MOGAPPAIR
DATE: 28 MARCH 2008
SIZE: NA
PRICE: Rs. 59.15 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 1 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
Her husband Dr S Ravichandran owns a plot. Following an RTI probe, the TNHB issued a show-cause notice and placed the allotment under suspension.
Political Perks

L Ganeshan
Former MP, who left Vaiko to join DMK
FLAT NOS: 1052 HIG, MOGAPPAIR
DATE: 27 MARCH 2008
SIZE: NA
PRICE: Rs. 79.86 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: NA
VIOLATIONS
Ganeshan is a trade union leader with the DMK and is close to Karunanidhi. He owns property in his as well as his wife’s name.
Brinda Nedunchezhiyan
Wife of late Chezhiyan and daughter-in-law of Agriculture Minister Veerapandi Arumugam
PLOT NO: HIG B 3/14, MOGAPPAIR
DATE: 13 MARCH 2008
SIZE: NA
PRICE: Rs. 9.82 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 45-50 LAKH
VIOLATIONS
Allotted flat under Social worker category. The tehsildar of Salem issued her a certificate though he is not empowered to. The certificate says she “is a well-known social worker involved in social welfare activities such as president of Poolavari village panchayat, head of parent-teachers association, participating in educational programmes of many schools”.
S Rajalakshmi
Wife of R Sakkarapani, MLA and DMK chief whip
PLOT NO: 1047, MOGAPPAIR
DATE: 9 MARCH 2008
SIZE: NA
PRICE: Rs. 79.86 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 3.5 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
She was allotted the flat under the Social Worker category. The supporting document was a letter from a Rotary Club. The letter from PNK Venkatachalapathy, president of the Rotary Club of Oddachatram, dated 31 March 2008, states that “she is known to me as a social worker who is participating in social service activities of our Rotary Club at blood donation camps, free health checkup camps and other welfare activities. She has also been helping in providing several other basic amenities for the people surrounding the slum area for the past several years. I wish her every success to do more services to needy people in and around the area”.

D Yasodha
Congress MLA, Kancheepuram Congress MLA, Kancheepuram
FLAT NOS: A5, HIG, MOGAPPAIR
DATE: 19 DECEMBER 2008
SIZE: NA
PRICE: Rs. 59.56 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 3 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
A certificate from the Chennai Municipal Councillor stating she has been an active social worker for the past 40 years actively involved in helping the poor in the area.
Poochi Murugan
Member of a DMK trade union
PLOT NO: A 11, THIRUVANMIYUR EXTENSION
DATE: 6 JUNE 2008
SIZE: 2,422 SQ FT
PRICE: Rs. 58.61 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 2.75 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
Though a member of a DMK trade union, he was allotted land under the Social Worker category. Has three plots in his name and one in his spouse’s name. He has not produced any supporting document about the social work he has done.
Bharati Thennarasu
Widow of Sivagangai politician Thennarasu
FLAT NOS: S7, THIRUVANMIYUR EXTN
DATE: 26 AUGUST 2008
SIZE: 3,879 SQ FT
PRICE: Rs. 79.13 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 3.75 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
She was allotted the plot under the Social Worker category. An RTI application revealed that she had not been engaged in any kind of social work that would make her eligible for this category.

P Moorthy
Madurai MLA
FLAT NOS: E2/6, MIG, MOGAPPAIR
DATE: 5 DECEMBER 2008
SIZE: NA
PRICE: Rs. 72.5 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 4 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
Allotted under the Social Worker category on a certificate issued by the Lions Club. Owns several plots in his and his wife’s name.
N Soorya
Daughter of Brinda Chezhiyan and grand-daughter of Agriculture Minister Veerapandi Arumugam
FLAT NOS: B3/13, HIG, MOGAPPAIR
DATE: 3 JUNE 2008
SIZE: NA
PRICE: Rs. 8.99 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 45-50 LAKH
VIOLATIONS
Like her mother, the 20-year-old was given a certificate of social work and domicile by the tehsildar of Salem, stating that she “is a wellknown social worker who is involved in many social welfare activities, such as national social service, participating in eye camp, blood donation and giving education to poor students”. The certificate was issued on 27 February 2008, the same day her mother got one. Both got adjoining flats.
Kith and Kin
Deepa
Daughter of Devaraj M, Private Secretary to the Chief Minister
FLAT NOS: 543, THIRUVANMIYUR, KAMARAJ NAGAR (PLOT ADJOINING SAIT’S AND SHANKAR’S)
DATE: 23 MAY 2008
SIZE: 4,466 SQ FT
PRICE: Rs. 1.08 CRORE
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: NA
VIOLATIONS
Allotted plot under the Social Worker category but there’s no evidence to back it. Constructing a three-storey building involving a cost beyond the family’s known sources of income. Her husband owns another property in his name. Her plot is adjacent to the plots of IGP-Intelligence Jaffar Sait and Durga Shankar, son of the CM’s secretary.
Naveenkumar
Son of P Muthuveeran, IAS, who was District Collector, Theni, and close to the Chief Minister
FLAT NOS: 541, HIG, THIRUVANMIYUR, KAMARAJ NAGAR
DATE: 27 JULY 2008
SIZE: NA
PRICE: Rs. 1.06 CRORE
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: NA
VIOLATIONS
Allotted flat under the Social Worker category. He works in a software company in Chennai and submitted a salary slip of Rs. 20,000 per month at the time of allotment. Now, he is constructing a fourstorey structure on the plot.
J Naveen Ibrahim
Son of SI Jaffar Ali, IPS (retd)
FLAT NOS: AI HIG MOGAPPAIR
DATE: 31 MARCH 2009
SIZE: NA
PRICE: Rs. 64.95 LAKH
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: Rs. 3.25 CRORE
VIOLATIONS
Allotted flat under the Social Worker category. Certificate issued relates to 1983, when he was a student. The college principal says he actively participated in “many social activities conducted by us. He continues to evince interest in social service activities”. Curiously, the EMI of Rs. 74,000 is almost double his monthly salary.
Durga Sankar
Son of Rajamanikkam, IAS, Secretary to Chief Minister
FLAT NOS: 538, THIRUVANMIYUR, KAMARAJ NAGAR (PLOT ADJOINING SAIT’S AND SHANKAR’S)
DATE: 28 MARCH 2008
SIZE: 2,450 SQ FT
PRICE: Rs. 1.12 CRORE
CURRENT MARKET PRICE: NA
VIOLATIONS
He is a businessman, but allotted the plot under the Social Worker category. He also submitted an affidavit that the plot would be used for residential purposes. But he violated the conditions and developed the property for commercial purposes.
The Others
M Ilamukil
IT Manager, DMK HQ, Chennai
VIOLATIONS
Allotted flat under the Social Worker category on a certificate issued by the Lions Club. The certificate states that he “is participating in social service activities of Lions Club at blood donation camp, free health camps for the past several years”.
Ilanthendral
Ilamukil’s sister
VIOLATIONS
Allotted HIG flat under the Social Worker category on the basis of a certificate issued by a panchayat, which is not valid.
N Kannabiran
Junior attendant at the Supreme Court
VIOLATIONS
Allotted flat under the Social Worker category. Kannabiran, a Delhi resident, was issued a salary certificate by the SC registrar for purchasing land in Tamil Nadu. He was allotted on the recommendation of his superior, who has close links with the DMK.
C Ganeshan and C Vinothan
PSOs, CM’s Security
VIOLATIONS
Allotted flats under the ‘unblemished’ government servants category. Documents reveal the Superintendent of Police, Security Branch, Chennai, issued vague conduct certificates after the duo were allotted the flats provisionally.
P Meena
W/O P Pandian, PSO, CM’s Security
VIOLATIONS
Allotted flat under the Social Worker category. She produced a letter from MS Velu of the Lions Club, who liberally issued certificates for sons and daughters of bureaucrats to help them avail of prime plots allotted by the TN Housing Board out of the government discretionary quota.
PHOTOS: THE HINDU, JEEMON JACOB
Reactions to Land Scam 3.0
D Yashoda, Congress MLA, Kancheepuram
“I have done a lot of work for Dalits throughout Tamil Nadu, especially in Sriperumbudur and Chennai. I have helped them in getting pattas for their land, recommending their names for loans from banks, distributing cycles to Dalits on the birthdays of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.”
Jaffar Sait, IPS, IG-Intelligence
“Government agencies have already probed the matter. I am being governed by the conduct rules, so I should not talk to you about the issue. It is advisable that you seek a response from the Tamil Nadu government. I would like to add that if any defamation or liability arises out of your article, necessary legal action would be taken.”
P Moorthy, Madurai MLA
“I don’t know much about the certificate, I think I got the plot because I’m an MLA. I have done a lot of work in uplifting the people in villages of my constituency. That amounts to social work. I don’t need a social work certificate from the Lions Club but my friends, partners and I took the certificate anyway. “


‘GDQ is a way of making you part of the syndicate’
BY JEEMON JACOB

C Umashanker
PHOTO: JEEMON JACOB
A1990 batch IAS officer, C Umashanker shot to fame during the AIADMK regime when he exposed a scam in the construction of sheds in a cremation ground under the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana when he was additional collector in Madurai. His brush with AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa’s partymen resulted in his transfer out of the district.
Later, when the DMK came to power, he was appointed managing director of the state-run Electronic Corporation of Tamil Nadu and put in charge of procuring colour television sets for free distribution to the poor in the state, in keeping with an election promise of the DMK. He was transferred with immediate effect after he exposed corporate fraud committed by the joint venture promoter ELNET Technologies Ltd.
Later, he was posted as managing director of the state-run Arasu Cable TV Corporation. In this capacity, he opposed the monopoly of Sumangali Corporation run by Kalanidhi Maran. He also took steps to nationalise Sumangali Cable Vision. By that time, Maran had a patch-up with the Karunanidhi family and Umashanker was transferred with immediate effect.
Later, the anti-corruption and vigilance department registered a case against him for disproportionate assets. The government suspended him for claiming fake caste certificate as a Dalit when he is a practising Christian.
Plots are allotted even without any formal applications. There is no transparency at all
He lodged a complaint with the National Backward Commission against his suspension and got a favourable order from the High Court. At present, he is managing director of Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation.
Umashanker was allotted a plot (under government order 2D 325) on 3 April 2008 at Thiruvanmiyur Extension when he was in charge of the free colour television for the poor programme. For this, he would have had to pay 55.12 lakh. He wrote to the chief minister that he could not afford to pay such a huge amount. Later, his allotment was cancelled without stating any reason.
Umashanker revealed he had an MIG flat in his name when the plot was allotted and he was not aware about the rule of Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) that he can’t claim a plot when he has another flat in his name.
It certainly seems commendable that Umashanker turned down a chance to own a plot in Thiruvanmiyur Extension, one of the poshest areas of the city. The plot is just 300 metres from the beach.
Though the entire colony has been parcelled out to those close to the ruling establishment, it is the nouveau riche and the industrialists who dream of owning a house in Thiruvanmiyur, where they can rub shoulders with former judges, bureaucrats and political power brokers. If and when the allottees decide to sell their plots, they can demand extremely high prices.
In a frank chat, Umashanker talks about how the government discretionary quota has been misused. Excerpts:

Why are bureaucrats, judges, former judges and politicians given housing plots in posh localities under government discretionary quota?
Who can refuse a good piece of land in Chennai city? It’s a way of rewarding people for good work done. No inquiry has been conducted in this matter so far. Discretionary quota is the prerogative of the government. After RTI came into existence, several activists are taking up the matter in court. Basically, there is no control mechanism or checks and balances. There is little transparency while awarding the GDQ — the plots are allotted without formal applications.
You were also allotted a plot in 2008 under the ‘unblemished government servant’ category. What happened to the allotment?
Yes, I was allotted a plot in Thiruvanmiyur Extension. Initial payment for the plot was Rs. 25 lakh. I never had that much money. So I requested the government to reduce the price. But there was no response. I did not want a house to compromise my integrity. So I never took possession. Later, in 2009, the government ordered a vigilance inquiry against me and cancelled the allotment. Frankly, I was not aware about the TNHB rules that bars a person having a plot, a flat or a house from claiming another plot.
Do you think the GDQ quota is a way of silencing people, buying them out?
Yes, it is a way of making you a part of the syndicate. Plots or flats are given to those civil servants, judges or relatives of the bureaucrats or politicians for complying with certain requirements. There is no procedure for IAS or IPS officers to get a land or plot or flat in a transparent manner. So everybody uses short cuts.

Minister’s DQ proves judges are more corrupt than civil  servant

NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: An investigation by Cobra post and IBN Network has revealed how former and sitting judges of Orissa, police officers and bureaucrats have received flats from the DiscretionaryQuota (DQ) of ministers. As a matter of fact, successive Urban Development Ministers in the Naveen Patnaik government have misused the discretionary housing quota.
According to the revelation, the judges have got the ‘minister quota’ flats out of turn and at cheaper rates.
The IBN Network accessed letters of judges written to the government asking for prime property in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
Prime properties were acquired in Cuttack at concession rates, bypassing the Cuttack Development Authority. In fact, Sectors 10, 11 and 13 of Cuttack’s Abhinav Bidanasi project has practically become a judges’ residential colony.
Former Chief Justice G B. Patnaik is a resident of flat 1B/22 in Sector 11 while former Orissa High CourtJudge Radhakrishna Patra has flat 1B/23 in the same sector, given out on lease.
Supreme Court judge Deba Priya Mohapatra, Orissa High Court judges Sanju Panda, Madan Mohan Das, Nityanand Prastuti also own flats in Sector 10 and 11.Papers for the flats were prepared quickly and some judges even got preferred plots.
Most of the allotments took place between 2000 and 2007, under the BJP  cadre Urban and Housing Development Minister  Sameer De who was State Development Minister from 2000-2004 and then Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo who called the shots from 2004 to 2007.
All that the judges had to do was written to the Minister. The CNN-IBN has a letter written by Justice Madan Mohan Das to the CDA Chairman and to Minister Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo, asking for a B-Category Flat in Sector 10, saying he would ensure a third party transfer of a C-Category Flat already owned by his wife.Justice Das was allotted the flat in just six days.

When asked why the discretionary quota was used to make the allotments, Sameer Dey, former Orissa urban development minister, said, “The Orissa act does not have any such rule. There is 5 per cent and 10 per cent allocation in discretionary quota. Apart from that we don’t have any rule.”
Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, former Orissa urban development minister, said, “The rule is that only those who apply for the project can be allotted land via Discretionary Quota. So if any such person does not apply what can we do?”
CNN-IBN has also found that many of the judges who were allotted land through the discretionary quota already own ancestral property in Cuttack. Yet the ministers were allotted the land they asked for.

Judicial Layout Site Allotment at Yehanka Bangalore  –  BRIBE TO JUDGES ?


JUDICIAL CORRUPTION
MY LORDS, THERE’S A CASE AGAINST YOU

Former Union law ministers are spearheading a campaign against sitting judges they accuse of being corrupt. What is the higher judiciary doing to clear itself of these grave charges?
Avinash DuttNew Delhi

Under observation: The Supreme Court of India
Photo by K. Satheesh

Senior lawyers have complained to the CJI and the President that Justice Bhalla illegally amassed properties
The campaign by some senior lawyers and former law ministers who have questioned the integrity of sitting high court judges is set to ratchet up the growing confrontation between the legislative and the judicial arms of the government. Former Union law ministers Shanti Bhushan and Ram Jethmalani are leading the battle against what they claim are corrupt practices in the highest echelons of the judiciary.
Bhushan has categorically condemned the rot he feels has set in the judicial system. “The judiciary of this country is not merely unaccountable, but corrupt and brazenly so,” he wrote in a letter to President APJ Abdul Kalam on December 17. Bhushan has demanded that the President initiate impeachment proceedings against Justice Jagdish Bhalla of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahbad High Court. On December 14, a Supreme Court (SC) collegium recommended that Justice Bhalla be appointed the Chief Justice of the Kerela HC.
Bhushan and Jethmalani, along with noted lawyers and former justices, including Rajendra Sachar, Indira Jaisingh and Hardev Singh, have formed the Committee on Judicial Accountability (COJA) and presented documents to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), YK Sabharwal, to support their complaint against the sitting judges. COJA complained to the CJI on July 11 that Justice Jagdish Bhalla had amassed several illegal properties in the name of his wife and other close relatives. Justice Vijender Jain, the former senior Judge in the Delhi High Court, who was recently appointed the CJ of Punjab and Haryana HC, is also in COJA’s line of fire.
By questioning the integrity of Justices Bhalla and Jain, Bhushan has thrown open the much larger question of judicial accountability. (See interview) “Leave aside taking any action against corrupt judges like Justice Jagdish Bhalla and Justice Vijender Jain, the CJI has been actually avoiding even properly investigating charges against them,” says Bhushan. According to documents produced by COJA on 21 July 2003, Renu Bhalla bought a 7,200 sq. metre plot near the Noida-Greater Noida expressway. On 28 March 2005, Uday Shankar, dsp, Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida’s official name) submitted a report to the area dm in which he states that the sellers of the plot belong to the “land mafia”. In an enquiry submitted to the dm on 26 June 2005, RK Singh, the area sdm, also described the sellers as belonging to the “land mafia”. According to the two reports, the plots constituted a portion of the gram samaj (joint village property) land, illegally grabbed by the “land mafia”. (All the documents relating to the transaction are in possession of Tehelka)
The SDM’s report says that at the time of the transaction, the plot was worth Rs 7.20 crore in the open market, whereas Renu Bhalla paid Rs 5 lakh for it. The two reports also state that the sellers of the plot have been charged in several criminal cases, and had sold plots to several influential people to curry favour with them. Renu Bhalla is the wife of Justice Jagdish Bhalla.
Bhushan has also drawn attention to the July 2005 draw of lots for allotment of plots in Sector 44 in Greater Noida. When the computerised draw threw up several influential names, a few people approached the Allahabad HC alleging foulplay. In October 2005, the HC decided that the case warranted a fresh draw of lots and ordered a cbi inquiry into the scam. Among those who had been allotted plots in the scrapped list were Aarohi Bhalla and Sheeba Sabharwal. Aarohi Bhalla, who is the son of Justice Bhalla, was allotted plot number f-52, while Sheeba Sabharwal, daughter-in-law of the CJI YK Sabharwal was allotted plot number f-78. In November 2005, the Supreme Court stayed the Allahabad HC judgement, putting the cbi enquiry and the HC’s order to hold a fresh draw of lots on hold.

Admissible in court? Documents furnished by COJA against the justices
Members of COJA have offered to discuss the matter in person with the CJI but they say that they are still waiting to hear from him. Five months after their initial request, they sent another application to the CJI in November. This time they sought his permission to register an FIR against Justice Bhalla, claiming that their initial evidence was enough to register an offence against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“The CJI did not even call us to hear our point,” says Bhushan. “I don’t know why Justice Sabharwal is shielding Justice Bhalla!” Bhushan is equally critical of Justice Vijender Jain.
Justice Jain, who took oath as the new CJ of Punjab and Haryana HC in November, had to endure many delays before he could be appointed to the post. The CJI had to make three efforts to promote Justice Jain. A collegium headed by the Chief Justice of India first recommended Justice Jain’s name for the post in July. However, President APJ Abdul Kalam returned the file, causing a minor embarrassment to the CJI and the Union government. When the collegium reiterated its recommendation through the government in November, the President had to sign the file.

Third time lucky: Chief Justice Vijender Jain

When a collegium headed by the CJI recommended Justice Jain’s name, the President returned the file
Earlier in May, a proposal by the CJI to make Justice Jain CJ of the Maharsahtra HC was stonewalled by a judge in the three-member collegium who questioned Justice Jain’s integrity. The member on the panel cited a complaint made to former CJI RC Lahoti against Justice Jain in January 2005. The CJI revived the proposal a month later, but again a judge on the collegium opposed his appointment. Finally, a fortnight later, in July 2006, the CJI made his third attempt to promote Jain, this time to the Punjab and Haryana HC.
This time around, to address dissenting voices, the CJI also consulted other SC judges who happened to be former chief justices of the Delhi High Court. According to reliable sources, Justice Jain’s former seniors also questioned his integrity. However, on the basis of a majority, the proposal to promote him was forwarded to the Union government for the President’s assent.
A major hurdle in promoting Justice Jain continued on page 8 continued from page 6 was a complaint by one Subhash Agrawal who approached then CJI RC Lahoti in January 2005 with the complaint that Justice Jain had violated the code of conduct for judges. Agrawal claimed that Justice Jain gave a judgement in favour of someone with whom he had “family relations”. He produced a copy of the invitation card of the litigant’s granddaughter’s wedding, held in April 2001. According to the card, the venue of the wedding was the official residence of Justice Jain. (Tehelka has obtained a copy of the wedding card from the Central Information Commission). In November 2004, Justice Jain, hearing an appeal, decided a civil suit in favour of the person who had held his granddaughter’s wedding at his official residence.
When there was no response to his complaint in October 2005, Agrawal approached the SC to find out the status of his complaint under the rti Act. He was told that his complaint was in the relevant HC file. Not satisfied, Agrawal approached the Central Information Commission. On the commission’s insistence, the SC finally told Agrawal that his complaint had not actually been forwarded to the HC, as the SC has “no administrative jurisdiction” over high court judges. Therefore, the complaint was pending before the CJI, YK Sabharwal. The commission asked the CJI to act on the application. The CJI finally settled the complaint, saying he found no merit in it. When Agrawal asked for reasons behind the decision, he drew a blank.
It’s not just Bhushan who feels the need to bring about accountability and transparency in the judiciary. Janata Dal (U) president Sharad Yadav says the issue will be discussed when the Judicial Accountability Bill is tabled in Parliament. “When the government tables the bill, all its aspects will be discussed,” Yadav told Tehelka.
CJI YK Sabharwal could not be reached for his comments. Despite conciliatory notes from him there are all indications that the clamour surrounding judicial misdemeanour and the demand for greater accountability will only increase in the days to come.
Dec 30 , 2006


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‘Half Of The Last 16 Chief Justices Were Corrupt’
The decision to declare assets is a big victory. Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan tells SHOMA CHAUDHURY what else is rotting in our judiciary

In public interest Prashant Bhushan has championed the fight for judicial accountability
Photo: SHAILENDRA PANDEY
It’s great judges have agreed to declare assets. But will it really help? Politicians do it too.
This decision is very welcome, even if it’s only happened under public pressure. It is proof of the power of public opinion. And even though declaring assets is a relatively minor aspect of judicial accountability, it will help. If a judge misdeclares his assets, there’s a chance someone might know he has particular properties he hasn’t declared, and may point it out. One could then examine if these can be explained within their legal income.
The debate around judicial accountability has got really hot. Are there watershed events that triggered this?
Not in my own perception, but I think for the public there were two watershed events – the Chief Justice Sabharwal case (where there was an allegation that Chief Justice YS Sabharwal’s orders to demolish commercial outlets in Delhi directly benefited his sons, who were partners with some mall developers) and the Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam. Both these cases got wide media attention. A 2006 Transparency International report said the judiciary in India is the second most corrupt institution after the police.
You’ve been at the forefront of the judicial accountability campaign. Why?I have been witness to judicial corruption in the courts for a very long time. I know decisions are passed for extraneous considerations, but it’s difficult to get hard evidence of this. There have been highprofile impeachment attempts, for instance, on Justice Ramaswamy, Justice Punchi and Justice Anand. Yet, they all went on to become chief justices. In my view, out of the last 16 to 17 chief justices, half have been corrupt. I can’t prove this, though we had evidence against Punchi, Anand and Sabharwal on the basis of which we sought their impeachment.
What is the root cause of judicial corruption then, and what are your key demands?
Our key demand is an institutional mechanism for entertaining complaints and taking action against the judiciary. Nothing exists today. Everyone realises impeachment is impractical. To move an impeachment motion you need the signatures of 100 MPS, but you can’t get them because many MPs have pending individual or party cases in these judges’ courts. In the impeachment proceeding against Justice Bhalla, the BJP declined to sign because LK Advani had been acquitted by him in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Such political considerations prevail all the time. An in-house procedure was set up in 1999, post a chief justices’ conference in 1997, but that too is activated only selectively. For example, the complaint against Justice Bhalla was that he had purchased land worth Rs 4 crore at Rs 4 lakh — approximately — from land mafia in Noida. This was based on a report from the DM and SSP of Noida. This land mafia had several cases pending in courts subordinate to Justice Bhalla. Another complaint was that in the Reliance Power matter, though his son was the lawyer for Reliance Power, Justice Bhalla constituted a special bench while he was the presiding judge in Lucknow. He sat in the house of one the judges at 11pm at night to hear their case and pass an injunction in their favour. We asked Chief Justice Sabharwal to initiate proceedings against Bhalla, but he refused.
Similarly, Justice Vijender Jain decided the case of a person whose granddaughter had been married out of his own house. He was a close friend but he still heard and decided the case in this person’s favour. The point is, in these cases though very specific complaints were made to the then Chief Justice of India (CJI), he didn’t do anything to activate the in-house procedure. All these judges have gone on to become chief justices. Bhalla is still chief justice of Rajasthan; Virendra Jain became chief justice of Punjab and Haryana.
What’s the answer?The first problem is that there is no independent institution for entertaining complaints and taking action against judges. There has to be a National Judicial Complaints Commission — independent of the government and judiciary. It should have five members and an investigating machinery under them. The second problem lies in the Veeraswamy judgment, which ordered no criminal investigation can be done against a judge without prior written permission of the CJI. That’s what happened in Karnataka. There was a complaint against several judges visiting a motel and misbehaving with women. When the police officer came, the judges threatened him and said no FIR could be filed against them because they were judges. This happened in the Ghaziabad Provident Fund case as well. The investigation is stumped because the CJI hasn’t given permission. We have to get rid of this injunction.
The third problem is the Contempt of Court Act. Today, even if you expose a judge with evidence, you run the risk of contempt. Judges are even seeking to insulate themselves from the RTI. We have to get rid of the Contempt of Court Act – not the whole Act. Disobeying the orders of the court is civil contempt – that should remain. Interfering with the administration of justice is criminal contempt – that too should remain. What needs to be deleted is the clause about scandalising or lowering the dignity of the court, for which Arundhati Roy was sent to jail. Finally, there is the problem of appointments. Earlier, judicial appointments were made by the government, which was bad enough. Now, by a sleight of hand, the Supreme Court has taken the power of appointments to itself. Earlier there were political considerations; now there are nepotistic ones.
Again, what’s the answer to that?
We need an independent Judicial Appointments Commission, which is independent and works full time, and follows some systems and procedures. Eligibility lists should be prepared and comparative merits debated and evaluated. You can’t just pick judges arbitrarily, and let people know about it only after the deed is done.
There is still no independent body to process complaints and action against judges
What are the best practices and conventions elsewhere?
We should at least have Public Confirmation hearings like in the US. In the Senate Judicial Committee, you have hearings where any public citizen can give evidence about the background of a judge that has bearing on their appointment. This is being fiercely resisted here.
Do any counter arguments hold?
None that I can see. The judges say all this will compromise their independence. Unfortunately, they are equating the independence of the judiciary with independence from accountability. Independence of the judiciary was meant to be independence from the political establishment, not from all accountability.
Are there other ways in which judicial corruption manifests itself?There are so many. There is Justice Kapadia who decided on the Niyamgiri mining lease case in Orissa. He said Vedanta can’t be given the lease because it’s been blacklisted by the Norwegian government; but its subsidiary company Sterlite can get the lease because it is a publicly listed company. Justice Kapadia said it’s publicly listed because he had shares in it and yet he passed an order in favour of Sterlite! There is a law against judges hearing cases where there is a conflict of interest, but they just bypass it and you can’t complain because that would be contempt.
WRITER’S EMAIL
shoma@tehelka.com

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 35, Dated September 05, 2009



Burn After Reading
BRIJESH PANDEY and SANJAY DUBEY track the Supreme Court’s lack of urgency in investigating charges of judicial corruption

THE STORY OF A QUIET BURIAL?
Special CBI judge Rama Jain uncovers Rs 7 crore Provident Fund scam during vigilance inquiry
Accused Ashutosh Asthana revealed that he was paying off 36 judges including a sitting Supreme Court judge and 11 High Court judges
Supreme Court directs CBI to investigate, permits interrogation of all involved judges
Several status reports given by the CBI to the apex court
Reports kept secret. Action taken on basis of reports unknown
WHEN SPECIAL CBI judge Rama Jain received an anonymous letter in January 2008, telling her that the provident funds of Class 3 and Class 4 employees of the Ghaziabad court were being siphoned off, she had no idea that she had stumbled onto the biggest judicial scam in the history of independent India.
As she was the designated vigilance officer at the Ghaziabad court, she first conducted an inquiry on her own, which uncovered the involvement of at least three judges and the Central Nazir in the embezzlement of funds. She reported the matter to the Allahabad High Court, which, in turn, ordered a vigilance inquiry. Holding that the report, prima facie, had merit, the court directed her to file an FIR.
Central Nazir Ashutosh Asthana was arrested on the basis of the FIR on April 10, 2008. His interrogation revealed that Asthana was not a solo player. He claimed that he was first introduced to the scam by a district judge himself. What followed was so shocking that even the Ghaziabad police was on the backfoot. Asthana confessed that from the Rs 7 crore embezzled, he had given cash and gifts such as airconditioners, refrigerators, expensive clothes, jewellery and furniture to as many as 36 judges, including about 10 High Court judges and one Supreme Court judge. In a sworn statement before a magistrate, Asthana revealed that this fraud had run from 2001 to 2007 with the active connivance of district judges. Every month, Asthana even paid bribes to various judges, from Rs 25,000 to a whopping Rs 1.5 lakh.
When these excerpts from Asthana’s confession became public, the public image of the judiciary touched a new low. In perhaps the biggest moment of crisis for the Indian judiciary, Asthana, the main accused, has in turn named judges from the Ghaziabad District Court to the Allahabad High Court, right up to the Supreme Court. This was not all.
These revelations stunned the Ghaziabad police. Clearly out of their depth and (justifiably) wary of taking on the powerful judiciary, they requested the Ghaziabad court to hand over the probe to the CBI. In September 2008, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the CBI, but with a rider: Investigate, but give us a sealed report. The PF scam, as it had come to be known, gave the judiciary a wonderful opportunity to redeem itself in the eyes of the people but the case remained shrouded in secrecy. Cynics then said that the whole matter would be given a quiet burial. Eighteen months after the scam became public and four CBI status reports later, the cynics appear to have had the last laugh.

This delay and secrecy in such a highprofile scam raises various uncomfortable questions for the Indian Judiciary. Legal luminaries believe that this is symptomatic of a larger malaise which ails the judiciary. Says jurist Ram Jethmalani, “The reputation of a judge is more important than the actual fact of his honesty. In fact, if a judge has a bad reputation, even if it is undeserved, he should not be appointed because then nobody will have confidence in his judgements,” adding, “When the judiciary expedites cases concerning the executive branch or even most prominent cases, why is such urgency not displayed here, when the matter is extremely serious. Why this delay?”
For six years, funds worth Rs 7 crore were embezzled and judges were allegedly bribed
A VALID QUESTION. Asthana named 36 judges (a list of which is with TEHELKA). Other than the fact that a few have retired, virtually nothing is known about the fate of the judges of the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court judge. Whether or not the apex court is planning to initiate or has initiated, criminal charges against any of the judges — sitting or retired — are questions that only the Supreme Court can answer.
And the apex court should answer, argues former Union law minister and senior advocate Shanti Bhushan. “I don’t appreciate this sealed-cover business except in very rare cases when making something public might be detrimental to the public interest — mainly if there is an army secret. Whether it is the judiciary or the executive, all officers are appointed on the behalf of the people. It is on the people’s behalf that the judiciary exercises its powers. How can you keep investigations in the PF scam secret? The people have every right to know what is going on.”
VN Khare, former Chief Justice of India, concurs. “These kind of things should not be allowed to linger. This shakes the confidence of the people in the judiciary. If there is an allegation or misconduct, it must be inquired into immediately and strict action should be taken against the erring judges. Why should the reputation of most judges suffer for no fault of theirs?”
When the judiciary expedites cases concerning the executive branch or even most prominent cases, why is such urgency not being displayed in this matter?
RAM JETHMALANI, Jurist
The biggest question which arises from this scam is the lack of will on the part of the judiciary to rein in errant judges. Let alone the judges named by Asthana, what about the fate of the three Ghaziabad District Judges named by vigilance officer of the district court Special CBI Judge Rama Jain herself? Legal luminaries say this hesitancy on the part of judges to act against fellow judges involved in wrongdoing clearly illustrates the prevailing mindset of the judiciary.
“I know of a retired Chief Justice of India who is one of the most honest judges I have ever seen. It’s difficult to imagine a more honest person. However, when a responsible minister made complaints to him against a corrupt High Court Judge, he did not grant permission for an investigation because he felt that as the head of the judicial family, it was his job to protect judges, be they corrupt or not,” says Shanti Bhushan. Ram Jethmalani chips in sarcastically, “This is the reason why judges call each other ‘brother judge.’”
IT IS not only cases like the PF scam which taints the image of the judiciary, but also the extreme reluctance on the part of the judiciary to be open and transparent. Reams and reams of paper have gone towards pious exhortations by the judiciary asking the government to refrain from corruption and work in an efficient manner. But sadly, no judge has held forth at length on the need for the judiciary to refrain from corruption. Even attempts to exercise the Right to Information with respect to the office of the CJI came a cropper as the CJI’s office was always declared out of bounds. It took a historic verdict by the Delhi High Court to declare that the office of the CJI was not immune from accountability and outside the purview of the RTI Act. Senior lawyers and retired chief justices feel that if the judiciary is not transparent or accountable, it only means that they are trying to hide something. Justice Khare feels, “Judges are more accountable than other persons because they hold a very high post. The very existence of the judiciary is based on the faith of the common man in it. If that faith is not there, how can the judiciary function?”
No judge holds forth at length on the need for the judiciary to refrain from corruption
What incenses them is the behaviour of the government with regard to the Judges’ Assets Declaration Bill which the government tried to introduce in 2009. The opposition erupted in protest and forced the government to defer the bill. Jethmalani terms the government’s approach to this bill as a “conspiracy of corruption”. “The government is scared to take on the judiciary. It’s clear that the executive wants to cosy up to the judiciary.” Agrees retired CJI V N Khare, “Why should there be any hesitancy to declare assets at all on the part of judiciary? The whole episode is beyond me.” In a recent development, the Supreme Court has reiterated before the Delhi High Court that the CJI’s office is outside the purview of the RTI Act.
Corruption charges are swept under the carpet by the judiciary. But this has given a shield of total immunity to the judges, who think they can get away with anything
SHANTI BHUSHAN, Former law minister
Another assault on the public image of the judiciary is the Dinakaran episode. Currently, judges are appointed to the Supreme Court by the Supreme Court Collegium, a group of judges chaired by the Chief Justice of India. When Chief Justice Dinakaran of the Karnataka High Court was elevated to the Supreme Court, the state Bar and legal luminaries rose up in protest because the Collegium appeared to have dismissed, or, at least, not have considered the serious allegations of corruption against him. According to Senior Advocate Soli Sorabjee, “The Dinakaran episode shows that the Collegium is not working satisfactorily. You must have a national commission for judges which should be made up of judges, eminent jurists and senior government officials. This council should have the power to get independent information and evaluate it.” Shanti Bhushan feels that as judges are extremely busy with hearing cases, there should be a full-time commission whose sole function is to pick judges for the High Court and the Supreme Court and feels that the commission should also have its own bureau of investigation. They should not be dependent on either the local police, who might be afraid to investigate judges, or on an overburdened CBI.
But all this is very hard to achieve. Jurists feel that the judges of the higher courts have converted themselves into a union of sorts and are trying to protect each other. “Their approach is to sweep every allegation under the carpet. Don’t allow the public to know about it. Let the public believe that our judiciary is very honest. But this has been counterproductive. It has given a shield of total immunity to the judges and they think they can get away with anything. This has led to an increase in corruption in the judiciary,” states Shanti Bhushan. Time and again, opportunities have arisen for the judiciary to reinvent itself in a new avatar. And time after time, it has failed. Caesar’s wife, they say, should be above suspicion. Whatever the cost it might take to ensure it.

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 41, Dated October 17, 2009


‘Half of last 16 chief justices have been corrupt’
By churumuri

Judicial corruption is a bull few in India are willing to attach their names to. There are whispers of this or that sitting judge making piles or cash; of sons, daughters and other near and dear ones acting as “brokers” for cases, deals, etc, but none of those allegations see the light of day.
Not because the media is a willing accomplice but because of the sword of “contempt of court” hanging over us.
For long, truth was not, repeat not, a defence in the case of contempt.  Although that is now no longer the case, judicial corruption still isn’t headline news like corruption in other spheres of Indian life. The case of Justice P.D. Dinakaran is one of the rare exceptions and that too only in sections of the media.
In September 2009, the Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, in an interview to Shoma Chaudhury of Tehelkamagazine, said “half of the last 16 chief justices were corrupt”. The comment invited the apex court’s contempt. Now, Bhushan’s father, the noted jurist Shanti Bhushan has joined issue.
In his application before the Supreme Court praying for his impleadment as respondent No.3 in the case of the Amicus Curiae vs Prashant Bhushan, Bhushan senior repeats his son’s charge that eight out of the last 16 CJs were corrupt, even going so far as to deliver the names of the corrupt in a sealed cover.
In the applicant’s opinion, eight [of the last 16 chief justices] were definitely corrupt, six were definitely honest and about the remaining two, a definite opinion cannot be expressed whether they were honest or corrupt.”
Below is the full text of Shanti Bhushan’s application, published in the public interest.
***
To
The Hon’ble Chief Justice of India &
His companion justices of the Supreme Court of India
The humble application of the Petitioners above named.
Most respectfully showeth:
1.     That the applicant is filing the present application for his impleadment as Respondent No. 3 in the aforementioned contempt petition as the applicant is making a categorical statement in the present application that eight of the last sixteen Chief Justices of India were definitely corrupt and also providing the names of those eight definitely corrupt Chief Justices in a sealed cover as an annexure along with the present application.
2.     The applicant is a practicing advocate who was enrolled on 8 July 1948. He has appeared in each and every High Court in the country. He is well acquainted with the manner in which the Indian judiciary has been functioning and how its character has been changing over the years.
3.     That the applicant has been a part of the campaign for judicial accountability since its inception in the year 1990.
4.     That there was a time when it was almost impossible even to think that a judge of a High court or the Supreme Court could be corrupt. Things have changed drastically during the last 2 or 3 decades during which corruption has been growing in the Indian judiciary. So much so that even a sitting Chief Justice of India had to openly admit that 20% of the judges could be corrupt. Very recently in March 2010 a sitting Chief Justice of a high court openly made a statement. The statement of the sitting chief justice was published by the Times of India in its issue of 6th march 2010 with the headlines, “In our judiciary, anybody can be bought, says Gujarat chief justice”. A copy of the news paper report is being annexed hereto as Annexure A.
5.     That the applicant believes that the reported statement may not be correctly reflecting the perception of the Gujarat Chief Justice, since he should be knowing as the applicant does that there are and have always been plenty of totally honest judges, but they are also becoming the victim of this public perception since no institution of governance in the country is taking any effective steps about dealing with corruption in the judiciary.
6.     That India became a republic in 1950, when the people became sovereign. They got the right to constitute their institutions, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, to serve them, who would be accountable to them.
7.     That before 1950, corruption was almost non existent in the High Courts. The federal court had in 1949 got Justice Shiv Prasad Sinha removed from the Allahabad High Court, merely on the finding that he had passed 2 judicial orders on extra judicial considerations.
8.     That it however appears that thereafter the judiciary has adopted the policy of sweeping all allegations of judicial corruption under the carpet in the belief that such allegations might tarnish the image of the judiciary. It does not realize that this policy has played a big role in increasing judicial corruption.
9.     That the Constitution prescribed removal by impeachment as the only way of removing judges who commit misconduct since it was believed at the time of the framing of the Constitution that misconduct by judges of the higher judiciary would be very rare. However those expectations have been belied as is apparent from the surfacing of a series of judicial scandals in the recent past. The case of Justice V. Ramaswami and subsequent attempts to impeach other judges have shown that this is an impractical and difficult process to deal with corrupt judges. The practical effect of this has been to instill a feeling of impunity among judges who feel that they cannot be touched even if they misconduct.
10.  That corruption by judges is a cognizable offence. The Code of Criminal Procedure requires that whenever an FIR is filed with respect to a cognizable offence, it is the statutory duty of the police to investigate the offence. The police has to collect evidence against the accused and charge-sheet him in a competent court. He would then be tried and punished by being sent to jail. The Supreme Court has however by violating this statutory provision in the CrPC given a direction in its Constitution bench judgement in theVeeraswamy case of 1991 that no FIR would be registered against any judge without the permission of the Chief Justice of India. In not a single case has any such permission ever been granted for the registration of an FIR against any judge after that judgement.
11.  That the result of this direction has been that a total immunity has been given to corrupt judges against their prosecution. No wonder that judicial corruption has increased by leaps and bounds.
12.  That an honest judiciary enjoying public confidence is an imperative for the functioning of a democracy, and it is the duty of every right thinking person to strive to achieve this end.
13.  That unless the level of corruption in the judiciary is exposed and brought in the public domain, the institutions of governance cannot be activated to take effective measures to eliminate this evil.
14.  That it is the common perception that whenever such efforts are made by anyone, the judiciary tries to target him by the use of the power of contempt. It is the reputation of the judge which is his shield against any malicious and false allegations against him. He doesn’t need the power of contempt to protect his reputation and credibility.
15.  That the applicant strongly believes that a responsible citizen should be prepared to undergo any amount of suffering in the pursuit of the noble cause of fighting for a clean judiciary.
16.  That there are two statements of Respondent no. 1 (Prashant Bhushan) published in Tehelka by Respondent no. 2 which are alleged to constitute contempt of court. In the 1st statement, Respondent no. 1 has expressed that in his view, out of the last 16 or 17 chief justices of India, half have been corrupt.
17.  The applicant states that in his view too this statement is absolutely correct. At the time of the publication of this report in Tehelka, the last 16 Chief Justices of India were the following:                  1. Justice  Ranganath Mishra,
2. Justice K.N. Singh,
3. Justice M.H. Kania,
4. Justice L.M. Sharma,
5. Justice M.N. Venkatchalliah,
6. Justice A.M. Ahmadi,
7. Justice J.S. Verma,
8. Justice M.M. Punchhi,
9. Justice A.S. Anand,
10. Justice S.P. Bharucha,
11. Justice B.N. Kripal,
12. Justice G.B. Patnaik,
13. Justice Rajendra Babu,
14. Justice R. C. Lahoti,
15. Justice V.N. Khare,
16. Justice Y.K SabharwalOut of these, in the applicant’s opinion, eight were definitely corrupt, six were definitely honest and about the remaining two, a definite opinion cannot be expressed whether they were honest or corrupt. The signed lists identifying these eight, six and two Chief Justices of India are being enclosed in a sealed cover which is being annexed here to as Annexure B.
18.  That in fact two former chief justices of India had personally told the applicant while they were in office that their immediate predecessor and immediate successor were corrupt judges. The names of these four Chief Justices of India are included in the list of the 8 corrupt Chief Justices of India.
19.  That since the applicant is publicly stating that out of the last sixteen Chief Justices of India, eight of them were definitely corrupt, the applicant also needs to be added as a respondent to this contempt petition so that he is also suitably punished for this contempt. The applicant would consider it a great honour to spend time in jail for making an effort to get for the people of India an honest and clean judiciary.
20.  That the applicant also submits that since the questions arising in this case affects the judiciary as a whole, the petition needs to be decided by the entire court and not merely by three judges handpicked by a Chief Justice.
PRAYERS
In view of the above, it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to:
1.     allow the present application and implead the Applicant as a contemnor in the aforementioned contempt petition as Respondent no. 3; and
2.     pass any other or further order/s as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.
(Shanti Bhushan)
applicant-in-person
New Delhi
***
Photograph: courtesy Shailendra Pandey/ Tehelka
***
The father, the sons-in-law and the unholy properties

JEEMON JACOB & VK SHASHIKUMAR scoop documents to establish property amassed by former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan’s son-in-law, PV Sreenijan, a practising lawyer who recently resigned from the Kerala Congress

PHOTO: SHAILENDRA PANDEY
WHEN KG Balakrishnan was appointed Chief Justice of India in 2007, it was a great moment for a man of humble origins. But VR Krishna Iyer, former judge of the Supreme Court and national icon, now says, “I used to say that an era had begun when KG Balakrishnan became the first Dalit Chief Justice. Now, I don’t feel that way.”
Post retirement, Balakrishnan became head of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in June last year. Ever since, a rising crescendo of allegations of corruption have been heard, fuelled by the fact that his younger brother KG Bhaskaran and his two daughters and sons-in-law all acquired vast properties during his tenure as Chief Justice.
TEHELKA has accessed documents that show that between 2007 and 2010, son-in-law Puliyanaveettil Vasu Sreenijan purchased property worth Rs. 1.85 crore. The current real estate value of these properties is in excess of Rs. 25 crore.
This is a truly amazing story of wealth creation by a man who, while contesting elections from Kerala’s reserved Njarackkal Assembly constituency as a Congress candidate in 2006, had declared a bank balance of Rs. 25,000 apart from 24 g of gold.

Sreenijan is married zto Balakrishnan’s elder daughter KB Sony, whom he met in college. He traces his background to a humble and hard-working family: his father was a factory worker in Premier Tyres, Kalamassery, and a Congress party worker. His classmates remember him as an introvert who had a muted, almost latent, ambition to become a powerful politician. From campus politics he moved to the Youth Congress and took active part in its programmes and activities.
Sreenijan became a practising lawyer in the Kerala High Court. When Balakrishnan started his three-year tenure as Chief Justice, Sreenijan started making huge investments in real estate and tourism. This sudden acquisition of wealth is currently being probed by the vigilance department after a probe was ordered by Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan.
TEHELKA repeatedly tried to establish contact with Sreenijan for his version via SMS and phone, but all calls went unanswered.
After his marriage with Sony, Sreenijan’s political career also leapfrogged. He was appointed state vice-president of the Youth Congress. Though Congress leaders like MA Kuttappan (also a former minister) challenged Sreenijan’s rise, such protests were short-lived. He lost the 2006 elections but his wife purchased a flat and car parking space in Travancore Residency Towers for Rs. 6 lakh in 2007.
WITHIN A month, Sony again purchased another flat in Mather Square. The cost of the flat mentioned in the title deed is only Rs. 1.49 lakh, but the market price of flats in the vicinity was about Rs. 66 lakh at that time.
Today, Kerala Youth Congress leaders who were angry about Sreenijan’s political rise are gunning for him. “We demand a CBI inquiry to find out how Sreenijan acquired so much property and assets within the last three years,” said M Liju, former Youth Congress state president. On 5 January, Sreenijan tendered his resignation as Youth Congress vice-president.

Legal riches?Sreenijan’s wealth has multiplied since 2007
In November 2008, Sreenijan purchased a river-front property of 277.52 cents in Kadukutti village in Thrissur district where he is now reportedly constructing a resort. According to the title deed, he purchased the land from Mohammed Iqbal Mather for Rs. 14 lakh. Villagers who prefer to remain anonymous say the market price was Rs. 1 lakh per cent. If that is the case he has allegedly shelled out Rs. 2.77 crore. And building the resort could put him back by more than Rs. 10 crore.
In 2009, Sreenijan purchased another property on Deshabhimani Road in Ernakulam for Rs. 30 lakh. Later, a property of 3.5 cents of land was purchased in his mother’s name (Sreemathy Vasu) adjacent to his plot.
But it is not only Sreenijan who became rich during Balakrishnan’s tenure as CJI. The second son-in-law, advocate MJ Benny, too, became wealthier after his marriage to Rani, Balakrishnan’s younger daughter.
Born to a working-class Christian couple in Nettur, Ernakulam, Benny married Rani in 2006. Benny and Rani, both lawyers, fell in love in the court.
Benny’s assets piled up in a manner similar to Sreenijan’s. Between 19 March 2008 and 26 March 2010, he purchased 98.5 cents of land through five title deeds for Rs.81.5 lakh. This is prime land along the National Highway in Marad, Ernakulam district. A cursory comparison of land rates during this period shows that the property was undervalued.
When Benny purchased the property it was around Rs. 4 lakh per cent and at current rates would be Rs. 10 lakh per cent. Yet Benny showed his yearly income as Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 5.5 lakh during the assessment years 2008-09 and 2009-10. Just five land deals made Benny a millionaire in two years.
Rani also embarked on an investment spree, purchasing 10.5 acres in Athirampuzha with her relatives, including Abhilash T Chandran in 2007. Chandran is the son of Thangappan, one of Balakrishnan’s six brothers.
Then there’s KG Bhaskaran, younger brother of the former CJI, who is in the spotlight for possessing property beyond his known sources of income. A senior government pleader practising in the Kerala High Court, Bhaskaran reportedly purchased 50 acres of land in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. In the light of allegations of having illegally amassed property he was asked to go on leave from 4 January by Kerala’s Advocate General CP Sudhakara Prasad. Bhaskaran, a former member of the CPM, contested Assembly elections as a party candidate from Vaikom in 1977.
Bhaskaran was a regular visitor to the Supreme Court during his elder brother’s tenure as the CJI. He is also reportedly close to Justice Paul Daniel Dinakaran (currently Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court and former Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court) against whom serious allegations have been levelled of land grab in Tamil Nadu.
No wonder, the Kerala Vigilance Department is now probing all the assets acquired by Balakrishnan’s family. Especially as the patriarch has not faded into the sunset and is now heading a body tasked with bringing justice to those whose human rights have been violated.

Public prosecutor caught on the wrong side of law

In a decision termed “rarest of rare” by a city court, a trial court judge found a public prosector on the wrong side of the law.
Indicting the prosecutor for deliberately botching up examination of witnesses in a case of abduction for ransom, Additional Sessions Judge Pratap S Malik has passed strictures against the state’s counsel and sent the copy of his order to the prosecution branch for necessary action.
The judge held that there was a deliberate attempt by the prosecutor to create situations favourable for the three accused, found guilty of abducting one Sanjay Khan for ransom in 2004. Khan had later committed suicide to escape further assault and the court, finding ample evidence on record, had awarded life imprisonment to the trio on Saturday.
The prosecutor had refrained from putting important questions to police officials and other witnesses that could help the prosecution nail the accused in a more convincing manner, the court observed.

Prosecutor caught in ACB trap

Thane, Apr 7 (PTI) An assistant Public Prosecutor attached to the Kalyan court was trapped by Thane unit of Anti Corruption Bureau while allegedly accepting bribe in the court premises this evening. ACB officials said that one Tuna Bharati, a resident of Malad, had filed case of dowry harassment against husband and in-laws of his late sister, Bhavana. Assistant Public Prosecutor, Chayya Bhadkamkar allegedly demanded Rs 20,000 and accepted the first instalment of Rs 3,500, for arguing the case effectively, ACB said. She was trapped today while taking the balance amount, it said.

JUDGES IN PROVIDENT FUND SCAM ?

NEW DELHI: Faced with accusations having the potential to unhinge the traditional public perception of the judiciary’s clean image, the SC on Monday decided to examine the possible mode of probe into the Rs 23 crore illegal PF withdrawal scam allegedly involving 23 judges, including some from the HCs and one from the apex court. The difficult question on the mode of probe was posed by a petitioner, who is the chairman of Advocates Welfare Trust and Bar Association of Ghaziabad — the place where the scam took place — even as CJI K G Balakrishnan had shown faith in the integrity of the judges by asking the UP police, which is probing the scam, to send questionnaires to the judges, whose names allegedly figured in the scam. Unwilling to have the judges interrogated by the police at first go, SC had written to the UP police that if the response of those judges to the questionnaire did not satisfy the probe team, then it could send request for personal interrogation. The request for interrogation in person would be considered on merit, the SC had told the police in a communication. Appearing for the Bar, senior advocate Fali S Nariman flanked by senior advocates Anil Divan and M N Krishnamani expressed concern over the scandal and also pointed out the possible dent in the image of the judiciay if an SHO was seen interrogating a judge. Bench comprising CJI Balakrishnan and Justices P Sathasivam and J M Panchal appeared undecided about the constitution of a committee as suggested by Nariman, it decided to seek the assistance of solicitor general G E Vahanvati to chart out a possible course to deal with the situation.

To keep the proceedings off the media glare, the bench decided to take up the matter in chamber on July 14, when Vahanvati and other senior advocates would make good their assistance to look for a way out of the problematic situation.  The petition said one Ashutosh Asthana, the Central Nazir in the judgeship of Ghaziabad, had allegedly confessed before a magistrate about his role in the PF scam and had allegedly mentioned the names of 23 judges who were beneficiaries of the ill-gotten money.


PROTECTION OF WITNESSES IN CRIMINAL CASES
·  JESSICA LAL MURDER CASE & GUJARATH RIOTS


In the 7 year old jessica lal murder case , all the accussed –
children of rich & mighty have gone scot free , for lack of both
prosecution & witnesses. The culprits have forced the witnesses to
remain silent through the use of muscle & money power. The
investigating police official, from the beginning has done roughshod
work & also have played a role in silencing witnesses. I.O MORE RICHER
NOW? PROMOTIONS? The presiding judge of the court has overlooked many
omissions & commissions by the prosecution and in a hurry closed the
case , acquitting all the accussed. Reward for judge – promotion as
high court judge. In this way, the police-prosecutor-judge were
together ganged up against the victim from the beginning. Also, the
witnesses were afraid of brute muscle power of rowdies & rowdies in
khaki uniform.
Now, take the gujarath riots case. In the first place riot took place
under the active patronage of gujarath state government machinery.
Naturally the police , prosecutors & judges in gujarath were against
the riot victims & closed one case after another, acquitting the
guilty. However the apex court got transferred riot cases out of
gujarath , under public pressure. However, even the apex court failed
to instill confidence , in the prime witness of best bakery case , the
apex court failed to positively reassure the witness of her safety &
livlihood. As a result , out of fear she became hostile- went on
changing her statements.
In this manner, numerous low profile cases involving commonman are
buried , witnesses silenced by the corrupt nexus of police-prosecutor-
judge. They don’t even draw media attention as they are low profile.
Drastic reforms of criminal justice system in india is needed.
Punishing the hostile witness is not the solution. Accountability of
investigating officers , police , prosecutors & judges is needed.how
come some police officials , public prosecutors & judges are leading
luxurious lifestyles, beyond the scope of their legal income?
Recently in the media there was mention of a C.D of alleged
conversation between samajvadi party M.P mr.amar singh & U.P chief
minister , about influencing a high court judge & fixing a case. This
is the way our judiciary functions in india. Rewards for corrupt
judges – out of turn promotions, post retirement postings , postings
to kith & kin , land allotments , etc.
Accountability of judiciary & investigating agencies is the need of
the day. Let us start with polygraph tests for I.O , POLICE , PUBLIC
PROSECUTOR & JUDGE of jessica lal murder case.

Reproduced from The Times Of India August 16, 2007 page10
We do frame people, says NCB official
Sub-Inspector Tell HC How They Plant Drugs On Innocents
Abhinav Garg / TNN

New Delhi:It’s been suspected by many, but confirmation of the police falsely implicating people by planting drugs on them has now come from the policeman himself who has been accused of planting drugs on two innocent people.
Sub-Inspector Ranbir Singh of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) admitted at the Delhi High Court that testing kits for checking banned drugs wereoften defective. What’s more officers often replaced the recovered substance with lethal drugs in order to implicate them. A shocked court has summoned the NCB director to explain the charge.
Ranbir is himself tainted of this grave abuse of authority. There is an FIR against him for falsely implicating rwo persons under the harsh Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances act. He claimed to have recovered 100gm heroin from them which later turned out to be harmless paracetomal powder.
The officer is now seeking to get the FIR quashed and in his defence has claimed that he was not the only one who framed people, several other officers did the same.
The Judge has also summoned the Kamala Market Narcotics Cell in-charge from whose area Singh allegedly picked up the two persons.
The Director and the Cell in-charge will have to explain before the court as to how these two innocents were booked and thrown into jail when two forensic reports clearly stated that the substance in question was paracetomol.
The case in which Singh is involved took place in March last year. Gyanender and Santosh were arrested by him for alleged possesion of heroin. The substance was sent for testing to two CFCL labs-one in Rohini and the other in Chandigarh- and both labs reported back that the powder was’nt heroin but just parecetomal.
After this came to light, the additional sessions judge hearing the case acquited the two men and recommended that an FIR be lodged against Singh as the two undertrials had to languish in jail because of the wanton abuse of authority.
The high court, while hearing a petition filed by Singh seeking quashing of FIR against him found it intriguing that even when the investigating team is equipped with “field testing kit” to test the contraband, they had mistaken paracetomal powder for heroin. Upon which Singh revealed that kits were often defective and  that officers also changed the actual recovered substance with banned contraband.

BHOPAL GAS  VERDICT FIXED -  Shame Shame to Supreme Court of India & Supreme Court of USA

Now it is a known fact that Bhopal  Gas Leak Case Verdict was FIXED years before ,  MATCH FIXED  by then MP Government Chief Minister , Indian Prime Minister and most shame fully Chief Justice of India.
Now The Final Verdict is out in Bhopal Gas Tragedy . This kind of Injustice can only happen in banana republics , where rich crooks are protected by authorities & courts. SHAME SHAME to supreme court of India , supreme court of USA & Government of USA , for practicing double standards in enforcement of law & justice.

Double standards of supreme court of India

PIL Appeal & Show Cause Notice to Supreme Court of India

In India, Favorable treatment is given by police & courts of law for rich crooks where as poor innocents are harassed , tortured by the very same police & judges . In india Some MP , MLAs even take money for asking questions in parliament / legislature , Favourable laws are enacted to legalize crimes of rich crooks  for example : Illegal land encroachments by rich crooks. The same MPs , MLAs are not aware about problems of poor public , they don’t even open their mouth for asking questions on welfare of poor , let alone enact laws for welfare of poor. No government law , no decisions of judges , no orders of public servants are sacrosanct . Hereby , e-voice urges the supreme court of india ,
1.       To legally prosecute the jurisdictional  police who changed the charge sheet , who let out  Main criminalAnderson illegally without orders from the  court.
2.       To legally prosecute the SSP , DC of the district , Then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh & Then Prime Minister of GOI , who fully aided the main accussed , criminal Anderson to escape , to jump law.
3.       To legally prosecute Indian Public Servants , who were responsible for withdrawing the case from US Courts of Justice.
4.       To legally prosecute Then Chief Justice of India Justice Ahmadi & His bench colleagues , who diluted the case by changing the clause under which  Anderson & others were charged.

The Public servants – Mps , MLAs , Judges , IAS / IPS officers  , Police  take thousands of rupees monthly salary , cars , bungalows , 5-star hotel stay together with 5-star meal complete with alchoholic drinks , 5-star health care at premium hospitals , business class air travel , foreign tours , etc all at tax payer’s expense. After enjoying to the hilt at taxpayer’s expense  , these same public servants don’t serve the public , they serve the rich crooks , anti nationals in their greed for more money.

All the while the same poor tax payer suffers without justice . In India more than 50 Crore people are barely surviving on a single piece meal .Let the corrupt public servants eat their 5-star meals by the side of the graves of Bhopal Gas Victims. Atleast this will open the eyes of honest few in public service – police , judiciary & parliament , it is a fond hope.  This is an appeal  to those honest few in judiciary , police  & parliament  to catch hold of their corrupt colleagues.

Editorial : COURT JUDGEMENT FIXING IN COURTS OF   LAW  / POLICE STATIONS  / GOVERNMENT OFFICES                                            SATYAMEVA JAYATE ?
Triumph of Injustice in India

In India  legislations , Parliamentary Acts , policy decisions are fixed (example : telecom policy fixing by neera radia & others) , the court judgement are fixed , arrest warrant by courts are fixed (example : CJI. Ahmadi changing the charge against Bhopal gas co & a judge issuing arrest warrants against  then president of India kalam & then CJI) , Police fixing cases , torturing innocents , closing cases by B reports , changing track of investigations , governments servants  giving false reports & records , etc. In this back drop , commonman won’t get justice in India . Instead if he raises his voice for justice , he is persecuted by the nexus of CRIMINALS – POLICE – JUDGES – PUBLIC SERVANTS.
Even the supreme court of India , is not accepting our offer  of service to legally book the criminals nor is it registering our PIL nor the Karnataka police are registering our complaint against public servants.

Our Supreme Court Judges , police & Public Servants , preach virtues in courts of law & other forums , but they don’t practice it themselves.
SATYAMEVA JAYATE ?
Read & Answer :

JAI HIND. VANDE MATARAM.
Your’s sincerely ,
Nagaraj.M.R. 

IB confirms Mysore sex scandal

The Intelligence Bureau has provided the Centre with a detailed account of the escapade involving three Karnataka High Court judges on November 3 in a resort on the outskirts of Mysore, highly placed sources told The Times of India on Friday.
According to a senior official, “Most of the information sought has not only confirmed the veracity of the incident but the government has crosschecked it with another police agency. Both the reports match.”
The incident was widely reported in the media. What has surprised the Centre is the “dogged refusal” of the Karnataka police to confirm the incident. “Mysore Police Commissioner C. Chandrasekhar first denied that the incident ever took place. Only when a public notice was issued through the high court registrar seeking information on the Mysore scandal, did the facts come out in the open. Public protest helped a lot,” says the source.
What transpired at the resort, says the source, “cannot be expected from anyone in civil society, leave alone persons sworn to upholding the law”. According to him, “The IB report consists of unmentionable facts and also makes it amply clear that the Mysore incident is not the first time such things have happened. Can anyone expect upholders of the law to pick a fight with people who complained to the police when caught in a compromising position?”
In a related development, Karnataka High Court Chief Justice N.K. Jain has written to Chief Justice of India Justice G.B. Pattanaik asking that three judges be transferred. Jain has proposed that Justice N.S. Veerabhadraiah be transferred to the Patna High Court, Justice Chandrasekharaiah to Jammu & Kashmir and Justice V. Gopala Gowda to the Gauhati High Court.
While Jain is understood not to have given any reasons, highly placed sources say the proposal for transfers is linked to the Mysore incident.
However, the source says that now the government is worried about the appropriate “remedial measures”. In such cases, transferring a judge to a remote high court doesn’t always work. He says, “Bar associations and the people of northeastern states were up in arms when some judges of the Punjab and Haryana high courts were transferred there. We expect similar protests if the CJI accepts Justice Jain’s proposal to transfer the three judges of the Karnataka High Court.”
The Bar Council of India on Friday, while expressing its anguish at the Karnataka incident, called for “follow-up action”.
“Unless prompt and appropriate action is taken, it will erode the faith of public in the only institution considered to be the bastion of our fighting faith in democracy,” it said in a statement. The BCI has “lamented” inaction in this case by “the higher judiciary and the government”.
Read more: IB confirms Mysore sex scandal – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/IB-confirms-Mysore-sex-scandal/articleshow/29801662.cms#ixzz1B7PtvFdU


CJ suspends copycat judges, wants report

Hyderabad/Warangal, Aug. 25: The Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice, Mr Nisar Ahmad Kakru, on Wednesday suspended five subordinate judges for allegedly indulging in copying during the LLM exams held at Kakatiya University in Warangal district on Tuesday.
Mr Ajitsimha Rao, senior civil judge, Mr Vijayender Reddy, second additional district judge of Ranga Reddy district, Mr M. Kistappa, senior civil judge of Anantapur, Mr Srinivasa Chary, senior civil judge of Baptla and Mr Hanumantha Rao, additional junior civil judge of Warangal were caught red-handed while copying in the first year exams.
The Chief Justice reviewed the situation after obtaining the preliminary report from the university authorities and issued orders suspending them from the service. He also asked the university to send a detailed report on the exam malpractice by the judges.
Meanwhile, the Warangal District Bar Association (WDBA) has demanded registration of cases under the AP Public Examination (Prevention of Malpractices & Unfair Means) Act, 1997, against the errant judges. “It was unbecoming of the judges to indulge in mass copying,” said Mr Ch Sambasiva Raju, vice-president, WDBA. The WDBA office bearers also demanded suspension of Mr Razak Uzama, II Sub-Judge, Warangal and his wife Ms Prema Rajeshwara, secretary, district legal services authority, Warangal, both of who appeared in the LLM exam. Reportedly, it was Mr Razak who encouraged the mass copying. However, he and his wife were spared. Meanwhile, Dr Talapalli Manohar, additional controller of examination, SDLCE, clarified that the flying squad had actually debarred only three judges — Mr M. Kistappa, Mr Vijayender Reddy and Mr Ajitsimha Rao. Sources said the other two judges, Mr Hanumantha Rao and Mr Srinivasa Chary were caught based on visual evidence.


Magistrate issues arrest warrant against Indian president after cash bribe.

An Indian magistrate who allegedly accepted a bribe to issue arrest warrants against India’s president and senior legal figures has been trapped in a sting operation by a journalist, a report said.
The journalist videotaped magistrate Meghani Nagar, who practices in Ahmedabad, commercial capital of Gujarat state, accepting a bribe of 40,000 rupees (851 dollars) to issue the arrest warrants, the Times of India newspaper said Thursday.
Among those cited in the warrants for criminal breach of trust and for cheating and dishonesty are Indian President Abdul Kalam and Chief Justice V.N. Khare, a senior judge and a well-known …


Indian president arrest warrant probe

India’s Supreme Court has ordered an investigation into how an arrest warrant was issued against the country’s president and its top judges.

A shocked Chief Justice VN Khare asked India’s top police body, the Central Bureau of Investigation, to report its findings in a week.
President Abdul Kalam, two Supreme Court judges – including Chief Justice Khare himself – and the president of India’s bar association were issued with the warrants after a case of fraud was filed against them.
An Indian television journalist has told the court he secretly filmed a magistrate accepting 40,000 rupees ($883) to issue the warrants.
The magistrate apparently had not realised who they were, newspaper reports said on Thursday. He has now been suspended from his duties.
Court request
Journalist Vijay Shekhar has handed over to the court videotapes of the incident, which took place in the state of Gujarat.


The court has issued notices to the magistrate and the lawyers who filed the case, asking them for their version of the events, the Press Trust of India reports.
“What is happening in Gujarat? By giving 40,000 rupees you can get a judicial order,” Chief Justice Khare is reported as saying.
“If this is the state of affairs only God knows what will happen to the country,” he added.
Mr Shekhar said he carried out the sting operation to expose corruption in India’s judiciary.
In 2001 India was hit by an arms scandal after a website secretly filmed senior military and defence officials apparently accepting cash from journalists posing as arms dealers.

Lokayukta: DC demanded sex from widow

In the midst of a national outrage over former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore molesting a teenager, the Karnataka Lokayukta on Saturday made a startling revelation that the state government was shielding a top bureaucrat who had demanded sexual favours from a young widow.
Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde disclosed that the official concerned, who was the deputy commissioner of one of the districts when he demanded sex from the widow in return for discharging his duties as public servant, has since been promoted to a senior position.
Justice Hegde, in the course of an interaction with journalists at the Deccan Herald office Saturday afternoon, said the unnamed widow had dared the deputy commissioner and approached the Lokayukta’s office with a complaint against the officer.
On examination of the complaint, the Lokayukta had found sufficient grounds to recommend to the state government the suspension and prosecution of the DC concerned. The recommendation was subsequently considered by the concerned department head as well as the chief secretary and both endorsed it.
But, according to Justice Hegde, no action was initiated against the DC as the same official who had endorsed the recommendation subsequently found no basis for initiating departmental action against him. Instead, the official cleared the DC’s name for promotion in the super-scale. Presently, the official holds a senior position in the government.
The widow, in her late 20s, had approached the DC with a representation to sort out some problems. But she was shocked when the DC demanded sex.
Justice Hegde did not identify the official in question or the complainant. Nor did he offer to name the district where the official was serving as deputy commissioner. But the incident has happened sometime in the course of last three years as Justice Hegde took over as the Lokayukta in mid-2006.

3-year jail term for ‘dirty’ judge

Family court judge Ramrao Gangaram Bhise attempted to get sexual favours from a housewife in 1997
Family court judge Ramrao Gangaram Bhise’s attempts to extract sexual favours, in addition to a bribe, from a housewife, Alka Gaikwad — who had sought an increase in her monthly maintenance allowance from her estranged husband, in 1997 — proved costly to him. Pronouncing him guilty on both counts, the special court hearing anti-corruption bureau (ACB) matters sentenced him to three years rigorous imprisonment and a collective fine of Rs55, 000, on Monday.
According to the FIR in the case registered against Bhise by the ACB, Suryakant Gaikwad had filed for divorce from his wife, Alka, before the Bandra family court. Alka, a housewife, in turn, filed a petition seeking mutual cohabitation with her husband. The then family court judge, Meera Khadakkar, directed the husband to pay her an interim maintenance allowance of Rs750 per month.
Subsequently, in January 1997, Alka filed another application before the same family court (now presided over by Bhise) seeking to increase the monthly maintenance amount to Rs3,500. “On October 27, 1997, Bhise issued an interim order, increasing the maintenance allowance to Rs2,000 to be paid by Suryakan to his estranged wife till the disposal of the case. Immediately after issuing the order, Bhise asked Alka to meet him and gave her his residential telephone number, asking her to call him when the court hours ended. He told her that he would ask her husband to pay her a lump sum of Rs2 lakh in addition to the monthly maintenance, provided she called him up,” the FIR states.
When she called up the judge at 7 pm the same day, Bhise told her that she would have to pay him a sum of Rs2,000 in addition to granting his sexual favours if she wanted an order in her favour. He also directed her to meet him at the Haji Ali bus stop with the bribe amount the following evening.
“Alka approached the ACB, which sought permission from the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court before laying a trap on the first class judicial magistrate (Bhise). The HC while granting the permission designated a court official to bear witness to the events leading to the trap. Alka, under video camera surveillance of ACB sleuths, along with the court official and other women witnesses met Bhise at 8.30 pm at the Haji Ali bus stop. Bhise took hold of Alka’s wrist and when she protested, repeated his demands,” the FIR states.
Alka was then taken to a nearby hotel, Sharda, where the judge accepted the bribe amount. But before he could do anything else, ACB sleuths swooped in and arrested him.


Rajasthan judge is indicted for seeking sexual favours


Chief Justice of India G B Pattanaik retires tonight and he doesn’t have much to write home about on the unprecedented drive he launched to enforce judicial accountability.
After the PPSC scam fiasco, reported in The Indian Express today, comes the case of the Rajasthan judge who has been indicted in a sex scandal and yet has escaped action—pending another inquiry.
On December 14, a three-judge committee set up by Pattanaik confirmed the ‘‘involvement’’ of Justice Arun Madan of the Rajasthan High Court in a proposition to a woman doctor to have sex with him in exchange for a judicial favour.
The committee, headed by the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice B K Roy, submitted its report to Pattanaik, indicting Madan on a complaint made from Jodhpur by the woman concerned, Sunita Malviya.
But Pattanaik has not announced any action against Madan. When contacted by The Indian Express, Pattanaik confirmed that the committee had indicted Madan and his ‘‘bad reputation’’ in seeking sexual favours in return for judicial ones.
However, Pattanaik said that no action was being taken since the committee had also mentioned allegations of corruption against Madan. And so he had ordered a further inquiry by the same committee into the corruption charges.
When asked what he did with the indictment of Madan in the sex scandal, Pattanaik said, ‘‘That is on hold because I could not have taken piecemeal action against him….I am praying to God that the final report will give some tangible material to take action.’’
Highly placed sources told The Indian Express that when the committee recorded statements last week in Jodhpur of about 30 persons over four days, it also came to know of several allegations of corruption against Madan and another judge of the same high court. The committee put these on record as well.
Pattanaik said that when he summoned Madan to New Delhi last week, he did not raise the sex scandal issue and instead limited himself to saying that he was ordering a further inquiry into corruption allegations.
In effect, Pattanaik has now passed the Rajasthan buck to his successor Justice V N Khare.
The gist of Malviya’s complaint is that Madan made a sexual proposition to her in October through a deputy registrar of the high court, Govind Kalwani, who said that the judge would help her, in turn, get out of a criminal case booked against her.
With this, Pattanaik’s much-touted in-house judicial accountability seems to have hit a wall. The first committee’s report into the PPSC scam exonerated one judge despite evidence and let two others off with a mere slap on the wrist. The third committee is now busy probing the involvement of judges in the Mysore sex scam.

1 Dec 2010 … (2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu & Kash- mir. … This is because of the still existing biases of thecourt judges. … had his chambers ”purified” with water from the ‘ganga jal‘ because a …
wapedia.mobi/…/Scheduled_Caste_and_Scheduled_Tribe_(Prevention_of_Atrocities)_Act,_1989 - Cached - Similar


Corruption in Judiciary
The sheer number of cases pending in the Indian judicial system (26 million at last count) says it all.


One of the most frequently used words in India, corruption signifies a range of things. In 2005, Transparency International and Delhi based Centre for Media Studies, a research firm, undertook the India Corruption Study. The survey covered 14,405 respondents over 20 states and included interviews with service providers and users (of these services). The results, published the same year said Indians pay out around Rs. 21,068 crore as bribes while availing one of 11 public services. While some of the results of the survey were published, many of the details were not. The study, however, remains the most recent and the most comprehensive report on corruption in India. Apart from calculating the extent of corruption, in Rs. crore, it explains the mechanics of it.
Over the week, Mint will present details of the CMS study. On Monday we featured India’s public distribution system. On Tuesday, we did the education system. Today, we look at the judicial system. Reader’s are welcome to send in their feedback to feedback@livemint.com.
Courting Corruption
The sheer number of cases pending in the Indian judicial system (26 million at last count) says it all. Given that, and the number of judges across various states (per lakh of population), the system is rife with delays and inefficiencies — ideal conditions for middlemen to step in. In the year preceding the survey, 59% of respondents paid bribes to lawyers, 5% to judges, and 30% to court officials.
1. Inaccesibility
The judicial system is highly dilatory, expensive, and beyond the reach of the common man. Ordinary citizens find it hard to seek redress, as litigation is expensive and extra money is often required to oil the wheels of the system
2. Misuse of power
There are instances of Metropolitan Magistrates issuing bailable arrest warrants against individuals of whose identitites he has no idea, in return for an inducement.
Some time back, a Metropolitan Magistrate in Ahmedabad issued bailable arrest warrants against the President of India in return for an inducement of Rs. 40,000.
In some cases, judges offer a favour in exchange for personal gain or favours. In Rajasthan, some time back, there were reports of a judge who offered judicial favour in exchange for sexual favours from a litigant. Some of these instances have been reported by the media, but no action has resulted.
Today, under existing rules, any person making any allegation of corruption or other things against a sitting judge can be charged and punished for contempt of court. This is a deterrent against more such instances coming to light.
3. A difficult impeachment process
The Supreme Court of India has ruled that no first information report (FIR) can be registered against a judge, nor, a criminal investigation initiated without prior approval of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Once appointed, a judge of the High Court or Supreme Court cannot be sacked except by a complicated impeachment process, done by members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the two houses of Indian parliament. Their immunity is reinforced by the fact that the procedure isn’t just cumbersome but also susceptible to political influence. In the 1990s, when the Congress was in power, a motion seeking to impeach Justice V Ramaswami could not be passed by parliament as Congress members of parliament abstained from voting. There have been no other attempts at impeachment in India.
4. Slow and inefficient
Many cases drag on for years. SAn oft cited excuse is the lack of staff, but the judicial process itself is unnecessarily complicated and inefficient, making cases drag on for a long time. Bribes are sometimes ought to davance the judgement or bend it. At last count, some 26 million cases were pending in Indian courts.
Why People Pay Bribes
1. Favourable judgement
Recent media reports have shown that it is possible to secure a favourable judegement in a lower court by bribing the judiciary, although the situation radically improves when it comes to the higher courts.
2. Speeding up judgement
There is a huge backlog of cases in Indian courts which results in delayed judgements. It is quite common for a case to drag on for years. People often have to pay bribes to speed up the process.
3. Other activities
A llot of non case related work also falls under the purview of the judiciary. This includes the issual of affidavits, registrations, etc. People often pay bribes to get this work done by a middleman.
4. Obtaining bail
The judge has a lot of discretion in issuing bail; the guidelines governing this are fairly basic. It is possible to secure bail by influencing the judge in some cases.
5. Manipulating witnesses
As some recent high-profile cases have shown, witnesses are manipulated through money or force into giving favourable testimony.
Suggested Solutions
1. Use of technology
* A review of how court records are handled and the introduction of modern tracking methods can eliminate much of petty corruption existing in lower courts
* Websites and CDs can explain basic law to laymen
* Court files can be computerized
* Video recordings of cout procedings should be maintained
2. Reduce the gap
* Provide alternative methods of dispute redressal to lighten burden on courts
* Increase number of judicial officers and number of fast track courts
* Create a vigilance cell for redressal of public grievances
3. Making the judiciary accountable
* Judges must be subject to judicial review
* Judges must follow a code of conduct
* Bar associations must act against corrupt members
* A public body must keep an eye on the judicial system
* An Indian judicial service must be created
* The proposed National Judicial Commission should have powers to fire judges
* Judges should declare their assets and those of their family

Anamolies in the arrest procedure
– By Anil Nauriya

A recent case of a Gujarat magistrate who issued arrest warrants against the President of India, the Chief Justice of India, a Supreme Court judge and a former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, has evoked interest in the media. There has been public concern essentially over the circumstances in which this order was procured and about how the names of the dignitaries concerned were disguised by not mentioning their designations and by seemingly spelling the names in full rather than as they are usually written. The complainant — there is a doubt whether the person in whose name the complaint was filed is real or virtual — simply approached a magistrate and made an apparently fictitious claim of having been cheated or defrauded.
The criminal justice process reached the arrest warrant stage without anyone taking the precaution of finding out whether there was an iota of truth in the complaint. Why did this happen in this particular case? How could such a thing happen under criminal procedure? The Supreme Court is seized with the first question and it is not desirable to comment on it. But the second question can and should be discussed.
A vital point to note about the “ordinary” criminal procedure (as distinguished from so-called special laws like the earlier Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act) is that it is not in fact ordinary. As in the case of the existing Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, applicable in India, criminal procedure in post-colonial societies is modelled on or is an outgrowth of colonial procedure. Many provisions have been mechanically continued.
There are several problem areas in criminal procedure relating to case registration, police powers of arrest in respect of certain offences considered graver than others, magisterial powers to direct investigation and, in given situations, issue warrants of arrest, and, finally, in the investigation itself. These aspects of criminal procedure lend themselves to considerable abuse by the police and the subordinate judiciary.
The Code enables a complaint to be made to a magistrate under Section 190 and certain other provisions in case the police do not register an FIR on their own or after a complaint is made to them. On being so approached, magistrates have a variety of options, superimposed on, and sometimes even apart from the usual classification of offences on the basis of seriousness. But broadly during the pre-trial stage there are two magisterial approaches that may, with some risk of simplification, be called the Red and Green Channels. The first is to insist on some elaborate evidence or material being brought on record by the complainant before setting the law in motion. The second is to simply take the complaint on record, ask the complainant a question or two, and initiate the process by directing the police to investigate and, if necessary, issuing summons or warrants as the case may be. Complaints about cognisable (that is, cases in which the police may arrest without warrant) and non-bailable offences often tend to go through the Green Channel.
The difference in the two approaches is ironical and paradoxical. Thus if a parent finds that a minor daughter has been to enticed into a child marriage, and the police have failed to take action against those who organised it, the complaint would generally have to travel through the Red Channel. A child marriage is not necessarily treated as void in personal law, but those who organise it are liable to some minor punishments. A complainant under Section 190 of the Code read with the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 would have to produce what is known as “pre-summoning” evidence before the magistrate. Long dates might be fixed by the magistrate. Unless other steps are taken, the minor girl might even have produced a child and come of age by the time summons are actually issued to the accused persons.
The Green Channel operates differently. These cases include but are not limited to matters where the police are empowered to make arrests on their own. In a given case, the police may register an FIR and, if empowered, effect arrests on their own initiative.
On the other hand, they may choose not to do so because of political or other pressure. They may also drag their feet for the reason that they are aware of the false and vexatious nature of the complaint. The complainant must then approach the magistrate concerned. At this stage there are few strong safeguards to sieve out fabricated complaints. In fact, if the complaint is fabricated it stands a better chance of receiving Green Channel treatment if it alleges the commission of a serious offence, usually referred to as “cognisable” and “non-bailable.” Odd though it may sometimes seem, in such matters elaborate preliminary evidence is not insisted upon as much as it is in the case of lesser offences.
The magistrates are quicker in such cases to direct police investigation and, as the Gujarat magistrate’s case shows, even go further and issue arrest warrants; the initial burden placed upon the complainant by the magistrate is much lighter in such cases. Even a mere order for investigation means, under some judicial decisions, that the police must now necessarily register an FIR. The registration of an FIR implies, in most such cases, arrest of the persons complained against. Since colonial days, the police have often treated as dead letters provisions like Section 41 of the Code which require “credible information” and “reasonable suspicion” before the police may arrest a person without warrant. Similarly, during investigation the police have traditionally taken little notice of the stipulation in Section 157 of the Code that an arrest is to be made when it is “necessary”; there is little appreciation of the fact that the test of “necessity” is a condition precedent to arrest.
The upshot is that under the existing Code of Criminal Procedure it is easier to obtain, with magisterial aid, arrest of persons in a false case concerning serious-looking offences than to obtain, in a genuine case, even a summons to the wrong-doer in what the law treats as less serious offences. The law offers a Green Channel for the first category and a Red Channel for the second category. There are no “remedies” to this particular malice; much depends upon the human material in the police and in the subordinate judiciary. But three important safeguards may be suggested. First, if it is not a capital case involving murder or rape or a case where there is a chance that the person against whom the charges are made would flee the country, there is no reason why a prior inquiry cannot be made before the criminal process is permitted to reach the stage of arrests or warrants for arrest. Second, if the complaint is not for a capital offence an affidavit ought to be required at an early stage from the complainant affirming the truth of the averments made by him. In the case of capital offences, which may involve greater urgency, such an affidavit may follow later.
Recently the Civil Procedure was amended to require the plaintiff’s affidavit in civil suits. There is greater reason for such affidavits to be required in respect of criminal complaints. The penal law does provide for punishment for filing false complaints. But the suggested affidavit requirement could help discourage false complaints at the threshold. Third, further safeguards are required in cases of cross complaints that is complaints made by more than one side against one another about the same incident or group of incidents. Such situations, often generated by business or political rivalries, are a common source of mischief. Sometimes the police, having registered the initial FIR, do not register the counter complaint, knowing or believing it to be false. At other times the reverse happens. These moves are accompanied with a complex interplay of the political, business and legal process, with unpredictable and ever-changing results. The complaint made by one side could even be suppressed. A cross complaint may be activated. Much depends on who was contacted by whom e.g. Politicians in New Delhi instructing Commissioners of Police, Fascist outfits functioning under a sham civil rights signboard in Ahmedabad. All participate in determining the outcome of a process in which criminal procedure is reduced to naught.
It should be mandatory for a complaining party to disclose, in its own complaint before a magistrate, any prior complaints pending against it that may be connected with the same incident or party. A similar responsibility of disclosure must rest upon the police so that such cross complaints may, where appropriate and necessary, be taken up together in the criminal process. The criminal justice process must insist, to the extent this is attainable, upon truth at each stage rather than truth deferred in a bid to achieve interim and collateral objects.
Finally, closer attention is required at the drafting stage.
When the present Code was being drafted and the then Attorney-General appeared to give his evidence before the Joint Committee on the Draft Bill in October 1971 the following exchange occurred:
Chairman: Mr. Attorney General, you must have been very busy…
Witness: I have not gone into the matter in detail; I had no time.
Chairman: Have you gone through the Questionnaire?
Witness: I have read this Press Communiqué.
Chairman: And the Bill?
Witness: No.
(Joint Committee on the Code of Criminal Procedure Bill, 1970, Evidence, Volume II, p. 178).



In the wake of allegations that former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan’s relatives have amassed property worth crores, a long-retired Supreme Court judge on Monday demanded that the Centre initiate a probe against him.
With reports appearing in the local media, former Supreme Court judge (retd) Justice V R Krishna Iyer on Monday led calls for a thorough inquiry into the allegations a day after a local TV news channel made the stunning expose.
“I myself feel sad that I was a judge. I used to say that an era had begun when K G Balakrishnan became the first Dalit chief justice. Now, I don’t feel that way,’’ said the former Supreme Court judge.
He pointed out that there were allegations against Balakrishnan’s daughter, son-in-law and even mother-in-law. “A commission comprising chief justices should probe the assets and bank balances of all of Balakrishnan’s relatives,’’ he said in Kochi.
A leading jurist and former Supreme Court judge, Justice Iyer urged Parliament and the Prime Minister to appoint a high-powered commission to inquire into the issue. “The President must require politely Balakrishnan to resign,” Justice Iyer said of Justice Balakrishnan who is the National Human Rights Commission Chairman.
As reported, Justice Balakrishnan’s son-in-law P V Sreenijin, who is a member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, had contested the 2006 Assembly election from the Narakkal reserved constituency in Ernakulam district.
At that time, while filing his nomination papers, Sreenijin had declared he possessed no landed property and that his wife had only gold worth Rs 4.38 lakh and a little over Rs 1 lakh in cash.
Three years later, Sreenijin and his wife K B Sony, both lawyers, declared Rs 35 lakh while filing their income tax returns. However, according to reports now, the couple, who have not declared any sources of income other than their legal profession, own property worth crores and are constructing a river-front resort in Thrissur.
Several of these properties are worth many times more than the amounts for which they have been registered. The CPM’s youth wing, the DYFI, has claimed that whatever information had come out was only the tip of the ice-berg.
“We have more evidence to prove that the former CJI’s relatives have property in Dubai, Bangalore and Tamil Nadu. The needle of suspicion naturally points to Justice Balakrishnan himself,’’ said DYFI state president and MP M B Rajesh.
Sreenijin has refused to answer questions from mediapersons saying he will react later. Justice Balakrishnan was also recently embroiled in a controversy over a letter written by a Madras High Court judge to him complaining against former Telecom minister A Raja having tried to influence him over phone.
For the record, Delhi-based journalist M Furquan in June this year petitioned Vice-President Hamid Ansari for a CBI investigation against Balakrishnan and his family “for finding out how much financial assets they have (allegedly) accumulated since he took over as the CJI’’.
Ansari had passed on the complaint to the Union Home Ministry which in turn handed it over to the CBI. The complaint is reported to be with the CBI Kochi unit now.

YOU TOO, YOUR HONOUR?
The retired judge picked to probe the Karnataka land scams has a ‘tsunami of scandals’ in his past, reports IMRAN KHAN

SOME THINGS just seem to get worse. Under pressure to quit for alleged corruption in land allotment, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa finally constituted a one-man commission to probe alleged land scams since 1995. Yeddyurappa chose retired Karnataka High Court judge, Justice B Padmaraj. The opposition, which was gunning for the chief minister, appeared satisfied and stopped its campaign.
But, Justice Padmaraj, it appears, has something in his past that ought to have disqualified him from heading the probe. In 2007, a Joint Legislature Committee (JLC) indicted Justice Padmaraj and 84 other HC and Supreme Court judges for owning plots in the Karnataka State Judicial Department Employees House Building Co-operative Society. According to the JLC, the society had created ‘an all India record for being the mother of all illegalities’ and was formed by ‘unleashing a tsunami of scandals’.
Constituted in June 2006, the JLC was headed by AT Ramaswamy and had 14 MLAs and six MLCs. It was entrusted with the objective of investigating land encroachments in Bengaluru. The AT Ramaswamy report found that the society had violated the Karnataka Land Reforms Act by acquiring 36 acres of private agricultural land in Bengaluru North Taluk without prior permission of the government.
A Joint Legislature Committee indicted Justice Padmaraj and 84 other judges in a 2007 land scam
The Land Reforms Act stipulates that any such acquired land shall be forfeited after a summary inquiry by the assistant commissioner concerned. The JLC also found that the residential layout did not seek approval from the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) — the planning authority under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act. Further, the report notes that “the House Building Co-operative Society then submitted its layout to the City Municipal Council, Yelahanka, which is not the planning authority for the society land.
The JLC also found that the layout violated norms for the allocation of civic amenities and parks. Town planning norms mandate 25 percent for civic amenities, while the original layout plan envisage only 5 percent. The JLC also questioned the appropriateness of both sitting and retired judges being allotted sites. It wrote: “The society has allotted sites to persons who are ineligible for allotment of sites as judicial employees. Most noteworthy of such ineligible persons are the HC judges, many of whom have been allotted sites.”
Shocked at the extent of corruption perpetuated by the judiciary, the JLC noted: “The society, which should have been a model to others, has become the leading lawbreaker without fear or care of law, property or public interest.” This is a strong indictment. So how did Yeddy pick Padmaraj?



Ex-CJI’s wealth under scanner


KOCHI: There is no respite for Justice K G Balakrishnan, former CJI and present NHRC Chairman, from controversies.
Close on the heels of the A Raja episode, he has landed in trouble with allegations erupting over his assets. A CBI inquiry into the amassment of wealth by him is now on the cards. The CBI is awaiting a formal nod from the Registrar-General of the Supreme Court, which is a legal requirement, to launch a probe into his mysterious assets.
CBI sources have confirmed the receipt of a complaint against Balakrishnan by a Delhi-based journalist.
The journalist, in his complaint filed before the Vice-President’s office, alleged that the former CJI had amassed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The Vice- President’s office forwarded the complaint to the Union Home Ministry which in turn forwarded it to the CBI.
“We have received the complaint but no investigation has been launched. It will be launched only after getting an official nod. The Supreme Court Registrar-General is the competent authority to give sanction for the probe,” said sources in the Kerala unit of the CBI.
But, it is reliably learnt that a quick verification of assets of Justice Balakrishnan’s daughter K B Sony and her husband P V Sreenijin indicated that everything was not hunky-dory. Sreenijin, a KPCC member, has allegedly amassed wealth to the tune of several crores in the past four years.
Sreenijin, who had declared only assets worth Rs 25,000 in the affidavit filed in the 2006 Assembly polls (he was the Congress candidate from Njarackal,) now owns several prime properties, including a riverside plot of 2.5 acres at Annamanada in Thrissur.
He and his wife Sony have also acquired a flat in the city, a plum office space near the High Court and 25 cents of land at Elamakkara (in the suburbs of Kochi) where the construction of a bungalow is in progress. Both Sreenijin and Sony are practising advocates and don’t have any other known sources of income.
The state unit of the DYFI has also called for a detailed inquiry into the allegations and demanded the resignation of Justice Balakrishnan as NHRC chief.
The fresh controversy will land Justice Balakrishnan in a precarious position as he has already been under a cloud following Supreme Court Judge H L Gokhale’s revelation regarding former Telecom Minister A Raja’s bid to influence a Chennai High Court judge.


Five-star jails of India

In a raid on Meerut Jail led by the DIG of Agra Jail to recover and seize cell phones and other unauthorised and prohibited items, there was a fight between the jail police and inmates of the high-security prison. It left six police officials and four inmates injured.
The raiding DIG said, “It could not have happened without the connivance of jail officials. We had special instructions from the home department as Meerut Jail is known for its lawlessness. But we were shocked when a thou-sand-strong mob attacked us with sticks and stones. We were trapped and could only escape after we charged towards the gate.”
The prisoners snatched away all the mobile phones and contra-band recovered during the check that was ordered at the instance of the State Government. The DIG has accused the superintendent of Meerut Jail of “inciting the jail inmates to attack us so that we could not find prohibited articles in the jail”.
On the other hand, the jail superintendent has accused the DIG of demanding illegal gratification. Some staff has been suspended. The other form of corruption reported from the Meerut Jail included unauthorised sale of items at exorbitant prices. Cigarettes were being sold for Rs 20 per stick. It cost Rs 500 for a meal of choice. A local call could be made for Rs 20, an STD call cost Rs 100. The Meerut Jail, built to house 700 inmates, now has 1,850 prisoners.
A former Uttar Pradesh Minister, serving his sentence in Lucknow Jail for the murder of his mistress Madhumita Shukla, freely hosted a wedding anniversary bash for a co-accused in the murder case inside the jail premises. A sitting Minister when asked replied, “No one is born a criminal and the Samajwadi Party believes in transformation of criminals. You can’t stop anyone from celebrating an occasion concerning him, his family or near and dear ones – within the premises of the jail. As per my knowledge, there was no violation of the jail manual.”
In 2004, three accused involved in the assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh escaped scandalously from the Burail Jail in Chandigarh. Inspection of the jail showed that the high profile prisoners were not only leading a luxurious life, but they had also enclosed their cells in a way that their activities inside could not be kept under vigil. Once the cell was turned into a virtual fortress, the prisoners dug a tunnel to escape.
The escape of terrorists involved in one of the most high-profile assassinations could not have materialised simply through a nexus between corrupt jail staffers and the prisoners. Vast sums of money as well as a pattern of internal and external intimidation was necessary to create the conditions for the eventual breakout and a significant network of support was essential to make sure that the fugitives could evade the police system once they were out.
The escape of Phoolan Devi’s killers from high security Tihar Jail and other similar escapes of prisoners highlight the ineptitude and complicity of jail staff. Tihar Jail is actually a complex of seven prisons, having a capacity of 4,000 prisoners. But actually there are more than 12,000 prisoners lodged there. Regrettably, there is no fixed rule as to how many prisoners can be lodged in a particular jail.
The following is the existing jail system. There are two categories of jails – district jails normally built for 400 prisoners each and central jails for 750 each. The jail staff members are not from the police and have their own distinct hierarchy. There are different categories of under-trial prisoners depending upon their education and social status. Courts have directed jails to do away with the colonial, vintage classification of under-trial prisoners into Class I, II and III, based on their socio-economic status, but Government continues to stick to the old practice.
Selected prisoners are used for the internal management of jails – to make up for manpower shortage – as well as administrative work. The convict- supervisors become a link between the prisoners and jail officials. They are given an incentive for their work. Any wrong placement or selection can lead to the escape of prisoners or other crimes going unchecked inside the jails.
The Indira Gandhi Government had set up a high-powered panel in 1980 to propose prison reforms. The apparent cause was Mrs Gandhi’s first-hand experience of the conditions in Tihar where she was lodged in 1978. Mrs Gandhi appointed the Justice AN Mulla Committee to review the national jail system even though jail is a State Government subject.
The Mulla Committee, 1983, recommended that the Constitution be amended to shift the subject of prisons from the State List to the Concurrent List. That never happened. The Centre at present has no say in the matter of jails except when they are in Union Territories where, again, jails are far from being models. The result is that jails continue to be governed by an outdated law enacted by the British in 1894. The position is that the jail conditions vary greatly from one State to another or even from prison to prison. There is no national policy on prisons.
A sensible recommendation of the Mulla Committee was to classify prisons into special security, maximum, medium and minimum security prisons. Such a classification can serve as a safeguard against jailbreaks and jail riots.
Much before sting operations became a norm with the media, a hard-hitting report had shown that in the Tihar Jail, officials mixed with notorious inmates like Charles Sobraj who ran an extensive drug and liquor racket with impunity. This led to a secret visit of the then Home Minister Giani Zail Singh to Tihar Jail. He was stunned to see a drunken prisoner offering him a bottle of liquor. A mortified Government finally suspended two jail officials.
Criminalisation of politics has produced a strange phenomenon. Criminals have contested elections from behind the bars and some of them have won. Given such topsy-turvy world of politics, prison officials are often either unmindful of the crimes being committed regularly inside the prisons, or sometimes they are the ones to provide prisoners with mobile phones, drugs and food. These jail staffers also organise kavi sammelans and mushairas and help prisoners run extortion rackets and criminal gangs from inside the jails. A prison for some prisoners has become a home away from home.
The next issue is that of under-trials. According to the statistics compiled by the Custodial Justice Cell of the National Human Rights Commission, 225,817 of 304,893 or 74.06 per cent of the total prison population in the country comprises those awaiting trial. The total jail capacity in India is 232,412 prisoners, which makes the total prison population 31 per cent higher than capacity, clearly emphasising the urgent need for a speedier justice mechanism.
Only when politicians go to jail do they talk about reforming the jail system. They forget the issue the moment they are out. We must be clear as to what kind of confinement or jail system we want. The time to make a beginning is now before things get worse. There must be a Central law to be followed as a model by all States.

No restrictions at Arthur Road jail, gangsters take leave at will

Pune: A highly confidential inquiry report by the Maharashtra prison department has revealed that several key undertrials, including Mohammad Dossa, underworld don-turned-politician Arun Gawli and DK Rao (the right-hand man of fugitive gangster Chhota Rajan), among others, freely availed of “leave” out of the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai over the last three years.

The jail authorities neither reported the leave granted to these high-profile undertrials to senior prison authorities, nor did they raise objections to the leave applications in court.
A senior prison officer told DNA that the inquiry report has been sent to the state home department for action as it has exposed corrupt practices at the jail.
Ironically, officials of the state prison department have none other than 26/11 accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir aka Kasab to thank for the revelation of this nexus between the prison authorities and the undertrials.
Sources told DNA that when the undertrials, including Rao and Gawli, were shifted to Taloja in Navi Mumbai, they started demanding similar treatment at the new jail premises. They were shifted to Taloja so that maximum protection could be provided to Kasab, who was to be lodged at the Arthur Road jail.
“The undertrials continued to demand leave at Taloja as they had at Arthur Road,” said an official, adding that the authorities at Taloja then reported the matter to senior prison authorities in Pune and Mumbai.
Former superintendent of Arthur Road jail Swati Sathe, who is currently posted in Nashik, said she was unaware of any inquiry.
It was during Sathe’s tenure that the “influential undertrials” availed of leave.
The inquiry revealed that leave extended from a few hours to even a couple of days.
It also found that this practice had been going on at the jail for nearly three years.
The authorities did not deny leave to around 45 gangsters, most of whom are booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999. One undertrial gangster was found to have “gone on leave” on 35 occasions, the report said.
The Maharashtra Prisons Manual has no provision to grant leave to undertrials, as is allowed in the case of convicts lodged in jails. It is customary for an undertrial to obtain permission from a court in order to avail leave.
The inquiry revealed that none of the 45 undertrials sent their applications via the jail officials. They were directly sent to court.
Significantly, the authorities at Arthur Road jail failed to appeal against this.
The jail authorities also failed to report the leave taken by the under-trials to the state government, which generally alerts the police machinery to keep a close watch on the activities of the suspects.
State prisons chief, inspector-general of police Uddhav Kamble confirmed to DNA the commissioning of the inquiry, but refused to elaborate. A senior official of the prison department confirmed the developments as well.
Another senior jail official explained that leave is only granted to an under-trial by the court for emergency situations, like the demise or serious health condition of the next-of-kin, besides attending the marriage of his/her children.
Leave can also be availed for emergency medical treatment at the private hospitals, but only under the supervision of the jail authorities. However the under-trials went on leave to attend marriages and death of distant relatives, other minor health issues of family members and even their companions.
Kamble sought a detailed record from the deputy inspector general of police (prisons), Mumbai, of all the leave awarded by the courts. The DIG, Mumbai conducted an inquiry and found the involvement of Arthur Road Jail officials. Another inquiry was commissioned to verify the findings of the DIG’s report.
In Pune, 22 inmates have been missing from the Yerawada Central Prison after they were granted parole or furlough in the past 30 years.
Mumbai-based gangster Vijay Thopte who was accused in the murder of union leader Datta Samant and Arun Gawli gang member Eknath Arjun Mohite of Bhosari are among those missing from the Yerawada jail. While Thopte has been missing after he was granted parole a year ago, Mohite, who has several cases registered against him with the Pune city and rural police units, has been missing for more than a year now.

Might Not Have Recommended Parole For Manu: Pilot

Disapproving the grant of parole to Jessica Lall murder convict Manu Sharma, who also happens to be the son of an influential Haryana Congress leader, Congress leader Sachin Pilot has said that he might not have recommended parole to the lifer had he been the chief minister of Delhi.
“I personally believe that perhaps more diligence should have been made before issuing these orders. The fact that he has already gone back (to jail) does not make a difference now,” Pilot said while participating in a TV programme.
Asked whether it was a mistake for the Delhi government to have recommended parole for Sharma, Pilot said, “Well I am not Delhi chief minister. From whatever I know of the case, if I was the chief minister I would probably not have given the parole”.
Sharma was granted parole after chief minister Sheila Dikshit recommended it. Sharma, who had applied for the parole on the ground of performing religious rites for his grandmother (who died in 2008), attending to his ailing — later modified to ‘ageing’ — mother, and business matters, in Chandigarh.
Significantly, the Delhi Police has gone on record to say that it had opposed the grant of parole. It has been reported that the Delhi government has so far received 132 parole applications this year out of which as many as 88 are still pending, 33 were rejected and  11 applicants were granted parole.
Dikshit had so far been under fire for justifying her decision, saying that it was within the “legal purview” only from the opposition BJP and legal luminaries, who had so far been protesting that it was a blatant case of partisanship. Not only was Manu Sharma granted parole on flimsy grounds, and his parole extended by another month on the recommendation by Dikshit, he clearly violated the parole conditions as well.
Opposition BJP points out that Manu Sharma’s father Venod Sharma, who is an influential Congress leader in Haryana, played a major role in ensuring that the Congress government in Haryana could be sworn. He is believed to have been instrumental in getting the support of not only the seven independents but also the defectors from Haryana Janhit Congress which now only has Kuldeep Bishnoi left because as many as five of his MLAs joined Congress on Monday.
Sachin Pilot is the first Congress leader who has gone on record to even mildly express disagreement over the issue.

Nobody would have known

What is even more significant is that the news of Jessica Lal murder convict — who is serving a life sentence for having shot dead the Delhi model on April 29, 1999 at the Tamarind Court Bar — being out on parole came to public notice only because he was yet again involved in a brawl in a nightclub.
Observers point out that the brawl on the night of November 6 at F bar in New Delhi’s Ashoka hotel that Manu Sharma and Sahil Dhingra got involved with Pranay Dadwal and his female friend may even have gone unreported or been hushed up had Delhi police commissioner’s own son not been involved in the case.
The argument turned ugly and Pranay Dadwal informed his father, who happens to be none other than Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal.
It was because of this that a jeepload of cops landed up at the bar.
By then Manu Sharma and his friends had left F bar and moved to the exclusive LAP bar in the adjacent Samrat hotel, which is owned by Mumbai film actor and model Arjun Rampal.
By the time the police reached LAP, Manu had escaped. The police picked up Dhingra, and it was only on going through the CCTV video coverage that it could be confirmed that the person accompanying Dhingra was none other than the high profile Manu Sharma who, most people assumed, should have been in jail.
It was only then that it came to light that he had not only been granted parole, it had even been extended, while he had been out there partying at various nightclubs and bars, not only in Chandigarh, where he was supposed to be for the period of his parole, but also in Delhi.
Observers also point out how thee is nothing new in the subversion of justice in Manu Sharma’s case, as the powers that be had almost ensured his acquittal in the Jessica Lal murder case, which got re-opened because of  an unprecedented media and public campaign.

CAN JUDGEMENT BE MANIPULATED IN INDIAN COURTS OF JUSTICE ? – WHY NOT PRISON SENTENCE FOR GUILTY SUPREME COURT ADVOCATES ?

 New Delhi, August 21 The Delhi High Court imposed a four-month ban on senior advocate R K Anand and colleague I U Khan on Thursday for interfering with judicial proceedings in the high-profile BMW hit-and- run case. A fine of Rs 2,000 was levied as well.
On May 30, 2007, television channel NDTV caught both lawyers in a “sting” operation, conniving with key  prosecution witness Suniel Kulkarni to get main accused Sanjeev Nanda off the hook.
A High Court Bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Manmohan Sarin found the two guilty of criminal contempt.
“The entire material leaves a bitter taste in the mouth about the goings-on in the BMW case. There is no manner of doubt whatsoever that there was complicity between Mr Khan and Mr Anand… There can be absolutely no doubt that Mr Khan and Mr Anand were, somehow or the other, more than mixed up in the BMW case,” observed the court, which had taken suo motu cognizance of the expose the day after it was aired.
“Mr Anand and Mr Khan are prohibited from appearing in this court (Delhi High Court) or courts subordinate to it for four months from today. However, they are free to discharge their professional duties in terms of consultation, advice, conferences, opinions, etc,” said the Bench.
The court desisted from commenting on the conduct of Kulkarni, saying it would not be “proper” to do so. Though the verdict comes solely on basis of the CDs and transcripts of the sting operation, the Bench said, “the unshakeable truth is that Mr Anand is guilty of criminal contempt of court”. Contemplating a fit punishment, the Bench wondered how many in the legal fraternity had had been taken by surprise to find Anand indulging in such “sharp practices”. “Mr Anand has held many prestigious elective positions in the legal fraternity, including the Bar Council of Delhi. He has also been a Member of the Rajya Sabha,” noted the Bench.
The court said it knew Khan for his legal acumen and forensic skills — “perhaps the reason why he was appointed Special Public Prosecutor in the BMW case”. High expectations over Khan fell apart when his conduct “betrayed the trust that prosecution reposed in him… what he did was perhaps beyond the realm of contemplation of the prosecuting agency”.
Chastising the two for their misconduct, the Bench said: “We are not dealing with a young lawyer who, driven by ambition and desire… transgresses the limits or unwittingly or unknowingly commits criminal contempt. We are dealing with senior advocates, who are expected to conduct themselves as gentlemen and role models for younger members of the Bar.”
The court forwarded a recommendation that the two be “stripped of their designations as senior advocates”. The High Court Registrar General will put up the court’s recommendation before Chief Justice AP Shah within a month.
In response to the verdict, the Delhi Bar Association president, advocate Rajiv Khosla, said about 20,000 lawyers from district courts were going on strike on August 22 in protest.

R K Anand
Began legal career in Delhi’s Tis Hazari Court as a civil lawyer in 1967. Appointed government counsel in 1976. In 2000, JMM nominated him to Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand. Appointed AICC observer for Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh in February 2003.
High-profile cases:
* In 1980, represented the late Indira Gandhi in a property litigation filed by Maneka Gandhi after Sanjay Gandhi’s death
* Narasimha Rao in the JMM bribery and the St Kitts case
* Chandraswami in the FERA violation case
* H K L Bhagat in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case
* Former external affairs minister Natwar Singh’s son Jagat Singh in the murder/suicide of his wife Natasha Singh
I U Khan
One of the top five criminal lawyers in Capital. He was charging a fee of only Re 1 in the BMW case. Began his career in late 1960s, and came into spotlight in 1980s.
* Defended Sushil Sharma in the tandoor murder case, Subash Gupta in the Personal Point triple murder, former Youth Congress President Romesh Sharma in several cases and Tony Gill in Jessica Lall murdercase
When prosecution & defence lawyer together team up along with corrupt police / public servants and manipulate evidences / records , the court is helpless and will acquit the accussed for lack of evidences eventhough the presiding judge is of impeccable integrity , honesty , he is help less. Add to this , if the presiding judge happens to be corrupt & teams up with the criminal nexus , the result is devastating , the rich criminal will get away & the innocent will suffer punishment in some cases even death sentence. Who will bell these few corrupt among the judiciary , bar , police & public service ? why  not prison sentence for two leading advocates on criminal charges of contempt of court , destruction of evidences ? are they above law ? why favouritism by court to the guilty in awarding punishment to guilty two advocates as they happen to be political influential ? will the court let a common man so leniently for the same charges ? In the past cases dealt by these corrupt duo advocates , there are possibilities that the same tactics of manipulation of evidences , prosecution is done to win the cases , to free the rich criminals , why not review of the cases dealt by these corrupt advocates ? The honest few among judiciary , bar  , police & public service must uphold our constitution , rule of law & bring to book their corrupt colleagues.

CASH FOR JUDGEMENT

Chandigarh, August 22: Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Nirmal Yadav who has gone on leave after her name is said to have figured in the statements of the main accused in the case involving the delivery of cash at another High Court Judge’s house, said today that she was a “victim of a vilification campaign.” Speaking to The Indian Express at her Sector 24 residence here today, Justice Yadav said that “some influential persons were trying to shift the focus on her to save the real accused.” Justice Yadav denied that former Haryana Additional Advocate General Sanjeev Bansal had talked to her on phone on August 13 when Bansal’s clerk “mistakenly” delivered a bag containing Rs 15 lakh to the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur, another sitting Judge of the High Court.
“Let any agency prove that I talked to Sanjeev Bansal on phone either on that day or any day in the past one month,” Justice Yadav said. “I am ready to face all consequences if this allegation is found true. I have had no dealings with Bansal. I have not received any money from Bansal or any of his associates. I am sure I will get justice.” Justice Yadav said she had explained her position to High Court Chief Justice T S Thakur and had “proceeded on leave.” She said she would not hear any case until her name is cleared.
Sources close to her said that during her meeting with Justice Thakur yesterday evening, in which some other senior judges were also present, Justice Yadav offered to proceed on leave to “maintain the highest traditions of Indian judiciary.” Justice Thakur told The Indian Express that he had not asked Justice Yadav to proceed on leave and that it was her own decision. It is learnt that in her meeting with Justice Thakur, Yadav vehemently denied any role in the entire role. While acknowledging that she and some other members of her family had bought a plot of 11.1 bighas of land (see accompanying story) at village Rihun Pargana near Kumharhatti in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh on August 14, Yadav is learnt to have denied that the money for purchasing the land came from Bansal or Ravinder Singh, the Delhi businessman, who is also named in the case.
“Can’t a judge buy legal property? Let the police or any other investigating agency prove that the money for the deal was provided by Bansal or Singh,” she is learnt to have told the Chief Justice. But she is learnt to have acknowledged, in her meeting with the Chief Justcie, that she knew Ravinder Singh. She is learnt to have said that she came to know him through some other judges.
Meanwhile, highly placed sources in the High Court confirmed that Chief Justice Thakur is awaiting the return of Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan from Brazil to apprise him of the developments in the case. The Chief Justice is learnt to have asked the administrative committee, comprising senior judges, to monitor the case on a daily basis.
The Rs 15-lakh delivery: Story So Far
•August 13: Parkash Ram, an assistant to Haryana’s Additional Advocate General Sanjeev Bansal, delivers a parcel containing Rs 15 lakh at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Kaur calls the police.
•Rajeev Gupta, Bansal’s friend and a property dealer, tells the police that the money reached there by mistake and it was meant for Nirmal Singh, another property dealer. Chandigarh Police decline to hand over the cash. Bansal is questioned
•August 16: A case is registered against Bansal, Parkash Ram and Delhi- based hotelier Ravinder Singh who allegedly organised the money
•Bansal resigns as Addl AG and surrenders on August 19
•August 21: Rajeev Gupta, the property dealer who claimed the money was meant for Nirmal Singh, is arrested. The Inspector General of Police sends a report to the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court. The report says that the money was meant for another judge.
•August 22: Justice Nirmal Yadav proceeds on leave

Caught in controversy is Solan plot that judge, 16 others purchased

CHANDIGARH, SOLAN, August 22: On August 14, according to revenue records, a plot measuring 11.1 bighas in Solan was purchased by Justice Nirmal Yadav and others for Rs 5, 52, 500. Details of the transaction, obtained by The Indian Express, show that the land was purchased by her and 16 others from six persons, all residents of village Rihun Pargana, near Kumharhatti in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh.
This purchase is said to have figured in the meeting between Justice Yadav and the High Court Chief Justice yesterday. Justice Yadav is said to have told the Chief Justice: “Can’t a judge buy legal property? Let the police or any other investigating agency prove that the money for the deal was provided by (Sanjeev) Bansal or Ravinder Singh.” The purchasers and sellers obtained permission from the Himachal Pradesh Government under Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy Act. Solan Naib Tehsildar N S Chauhan has confirmed on record that that the deal had been registered as per the details we have. The land was sold by residents of village including Baldev; Narinder Kumar; Surinder Kumar; Rajinder Kumar; Bimla Devi and Amar Singh. The sellers have given a General Power of Attorney to Surinder Kumar (one of the partners among the sellers), who executed a sale agreement in favour of the buyers.
Those named as purchasers (partners) in the land deal include Suruchi, a resident of House no. 3, Sector 14, Gurgaon; Trisha Chaudhary; Ram Niwas; Rajender Yadav; Chiranjeev; Latika; Deepak; Sunita; Vivek; Capt. NT Puri; Devinder Singh; Shakuntla; Kuldip Singh Yadav; Ajay Yadav; Sushank Puri; Mohit (all residents of house no. 1111, Sector 11, Panchkula) and Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Nirmal Yadav.

Three booked in judge bribery case

Haryana Addl Advocate General among booked Chandigarh, August 16: Three persons, including Additional Advocate General of Haryana Sanjeev Bansal, were on Saturday booked for an attempt to bribe a Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge. The other two are Bansal’s munshi Parkash, who had carried Rs 15 lakh to the residence of High Court judge Nirmaljit Kaur on Wednesday night, and Ravinder Singh, a Delhi-based businessman who has a hotel in Karol Bagh. The munshi was taken into custody while a police party has been despatched to Delhi to nab Singh. Assistant Superintendent of Police Madhur Verma said the amount was supposed to be handed over to some other public servant but was mistakenly delivered at Kaur’s house. An FIR was lodged after Kaur complained to the police. She also reported the matter to the Chief Justice. Police said Singh had allegedly paid Bansal a huge amount to get settled a criminal case pending in the High Court. The case is due to come up for hearing on Wednesday.
Earlier, Singh had claimed the amount was pertaining to a property deal he had struck with a resident of Panchkula. The money was supposed to be delivered to one Nirmal Singh and was mistakenly delivered at the judge’s house. Verma, however, said the preliminary investigation had ruled out the possibility of the amount being related to any property deal. “Bansal failed to give a detailed account of the cash. He produced some papers pertaining to some property in Panchkula but that did not carry any weight. Our investigations caught him on the wrong foot and, therefore, we booked him along with two others under the Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy,” he added. Bansal has been handling several high-profile cases. He is one of the dozen-odd Additional Advocate Generals appointed by the Haryana Government about two years ago.

Corrupt judge in Allahabad High Court  by Rajeev

If the Judges go corrupt, then it is GOD who will give one justice when one go to heaven or hell. It is a Irony that I filed a complaint against a District and Session Judge who later promoted to High Court of Allahabad. I wish the God will serve HIS justice to Hon’ble Justice Umeshware Pandey, now enjoying at High Court and selling (Mis)Justice at Rs 100000 per page!! Here I am elaborating what had happened. In 1994, two people name Parashram Agarwal and Mohan Lal Agarwal wanted to grab my father’s property and in March 1994 they beat him and pulled his legs( just imagine the pain) making him handicapped for life. Then in court those guys were merely sentenced for 6 months in Jail, but they did not went for the jail for single day or hour and appealed to Sessions Court and then the corrupt Judge Umeshwar Pandey took the bribe of Rs 200000 in Criminal Revision number 13/2000 from Parashram Agarwal and Mohan Lal.
It is a shame on Umeshwar Pandey that he cannot see a Handicapped man suffering for last 9 years and even then not given the justice.  Umeshwar Pandey has taken this bribe via his Steno name some G. D. Gupta. It is the habit of Parashram and MohanLal to record the conversation while giving bribes on hidden audio recorder and the same cassette can be recovered if the authority try. It is been 8 months since I have informed various authorities by registered letters and phone calls from USA for no action till date.

I have spoken to Mr Jagmohan Paliwal who was posted as Vigilance Officer for no action till date and the recording attached is from Sept 2002.  Similarly I have spoken with Mr. K. S. Rakhra who was posted as Registrar General but no action till date, and the recoding shown is from Sept 2002 too. Even CBI has forwarded my letter to Registrar General, but no action is taken on that one too.

I have emaild my plea to few High court Judges too for no response. I just hope GOD is there who will give some justice. But the corrupt Judges should stop imitating as GOD they are devil actually. The only solution can be people make a limit. How much money a person needs. I often think about a story that a saint refused to take the food as he already got the food for today and he do not want to collect for tomorrow. But I don’t know why people want to generate money for 7 generations. If a careful analysis and investigation is done Umeshwar Pamdey has Black money worth 3 generations. I guess instead of Lakhs and Carore now corruption should be measured in generations.

Education is important. People need to understand the meaning of freedom truly. IF I say boldly India is still not free. People have mentality that they need to pay to Government officials for work. This mentality has to be removed.

Thanks
Rajeev


HC suspends judge over corruption complaints


AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court has suspended a fast track court judge in Rajpipla after receiving several complaints of corruption and favouritism against her. Rajpipla fast track court Judge DL Desai was suspended on Thursday evening after a primary inquiry held by the court’s vigilance department said that the complaints against her had substance. Further inquiry against her will be conducted by the department. Besides the complaint of favouritism in Rajpipla, where she was presently posted, the Desai was also accused of similar charges and issuing certificates without proper verification in Bharuch, where the she was discharging her duty as a principal district judge, the High Court authorities said.

The HC administration seems to be seriously taking the issue of corruption prevailing in Gujarat’s judiciary, as Desai’s is the fourth suspension in last three months. Earlier in May, a judge in Surat’s court, AN Vinjhola was suspended after similar complaints against him. The court administration also found him in possession of property out of proportion considering his known sources of income. Last month, two judges were suspended on charges of corruption. The Ahmedabad city civil Judge NM Thakor and KV Kakkad were also suspended by the HC after holding preliminary inquiry into complaints against them. All the four suspended judges are now facing departmental inquiry.


FOREIGN TOURS OF INDIAN JUDGES  AT TAXPAYER’S EXPENSE

New Delhi: CNN-IBN’s exclusive report on some judges using official trips to holiday, has sparked off the debate – should judges be above the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act? RTI activists say there is every reason why the RTI Act should apply to the higher judiciary as well. Questions are now being asked in South Block, too, following the expose on Supreme Court judges. Records obtained under the RTI shows judges have been converting work trips to holidays, taking long detours and are accompanied by their wives while traveling abroad.
At present there are no travel guidelines for the judiciary and the Bar Council of India is suggesting a course correction. “I think the judges must pay or should pay the amount to the government,” Bar Council of India Chairman SNP Sinha said in Patna on Wednesday.
Under the RTI, CNN-IBN found that for Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan’s 11-day trip to Pretoria, South Africa in August 2007 the route was – Delhi, Dubai, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Capetown, Johannesburg, Victoria Falls, where the judge finally didn’t go and back to Delhi via Dubai.
Former chief justice YK Sabharwal attended three conferences in 2005 to Edinburgh, Washington and Paris. While the conferences lasted 11 days, Sabharwal was out for 38 days with 21 days converted into a private visit. The travel plan included a detour from Washington to Baltimore, Orlando and Atlanta, before rejoining the conference route in Paris. The First Class air fare for Sabharwal’s entire trip was paid by the government. Activists are now renewing the debate on the RTI act applying to judges as well
RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal said: “It only underscores why the RTI needs to be applied to judges and judiciary.” Just like Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion, RTI activists are demanding that SC judges too should be seen to be accountable.

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