Judge Dies In Dhanbad: Supreme Court Seeks Report Within A Week

Additional district and sessions judge of Dhanbad Uttam Anand was on his morning walk when he was fatally knocked down by a vehicle on Wednesday

The Supreme Court on Friday took suo motu cognizance of the death of a judicial officer in Jharkhand on Thursday and sought a status report on the investigation conducted so far from the chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) of Jharkhand within a week.

Additional district and sessions judge of Dhanbad Uttam Anand was on his morning walk when he was fatally knocked down by a vehicle on Wednesday.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant took suo motu cognizance of the incident and registered the case as, “Safeguarding Courts and Protecting Judges (Death of ASJ Dhanbad)”.

The police has been asked to submit details of the case investigation. The decision of the apex court to take cognizance of the incident is seen as an attempt to monitor the progress of the investigation.

An FIR has been registered by the Jharkhand Police based on CCTV camera footage of the incident. A 14-member special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted, and two persons have since been arrested. The police have alleged that the two were in the auto-rickshaw that caused the accident. The auto-rickshaw was found to be stolen from Dhanbad.

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Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and senior advocate Vikas Singh mentioned the incident before the CJI and demanded a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). “This is an attack on judicial independence. If judiciary has to remain independent, judges have to be safe. An ADJ cannot be killed in this manner. This matter should be probed by CBI as local police can be complicit,” he said.

The concern shown by the Bar was appreciated by the CJI and said that the situation is currently being monitored by the high court and if there is any need for the Supreme Court to intervene, it will.

The disturbing CCTV camera visual of the incident showed how the vehicle knocked down ADJ Anand on the road. Looking at the visuals, Singh had said, “There cannot be a more brazen attack on a judge than this. Any judge in this country can be attacked. This is a serious matter.”