Jharkhand Judge Murder Case: The Chief Justice said the investigating agencies “do not help at all” when judges complain and the “CBI has shown no change in its attitude”
The CBI and other investigating agencies “do not respond” when lower court judges complain about threats, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said today as the Supreme Court took up the recent murder of a Jharkhand district judge.
Criticizing the investigating agencies, the Chief Justice said they “do not help at all” when judges complain and the “CBI has shown no change in its attitude”. The court also asked the Centre to respond within a week on a pending petition for protecting judges.
The Chief Justice also said, “In high profile cases involving gangsters, abusive messages on WhatsApp and Facebook are sent to Judges to mentally harass them. The CBI has done nothing. We have expected some change in the CBI’s attitude but there is no change. Sorry to say, this is the situation.”
“Investigating agencies do not help at all and I am making this statement with some sense of responsibility. I am not divulging more. Something has to be done,” Chief Justice Ramana added.
Also read: Judge Dies In Dhanbad: Supreme Court Seeks Report Within A Week
On July 28, district judge Uttam Anand, 49, was killed when an auto rammed him while he was on his morning run.
What was first believed to be a hit-and-run turned out to be far more disturbing as the CCTV footage that emerged showed the auto going straight for the judge along a deserted stretch of road and hitting him intentionally.
Many cases of mafia killings in Dhanbad were being handled by Judge Anand and he had rejected bail requests from two gangsters. He was also hearing a murder case involving an MLA’s close aide.
Saying it had “wider ramifications” the Supreme Court took up the case on its own last Friday.
The Chief Justice also said that, “It is an unfortunate case of a young judge (Dhanbad) who lost his life. Dhanbad is a coal mafia area. Despite that, the state did nothing. The state has to provide security.”
Chief Justice Ramana also called for a special protection force for judges and said, “Petitioner alleged that antisocial elements were entering into court premises. He wanted some security measures to be taken by Centre by creating separate force like the Railway Protection Force so that judges can work in an independent environment.”
He also added saying, the Centre, should respond.
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