Editorial : When a Judge Himself Commits Crime, When a police himself robs, Murders …

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.

 

 

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 ?

 

 

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 ?

 

 

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.

Related Articles ·         Court awards jail term to BJP MLA in Karnataka ·         Some ministers may scrape thru disputed GOs ·         Court tells CBI to deposit Gali’s Rs. 4.2cr ·         Opposition demands action against Gali, tainted judge ·         Pattabhi fixed bail deal for Rs.15 crore Related Images alt=”http://www.asianage.com/sites/default/files/images/prot.jpg.crop_display.related_images.jpg” u2:shapes=”_x0000_i1025″ v:shapes=”_x0000_i1025″> alt=”http://www.asianage.com/sites/default/files/images/patt.jpg.crop_display.related_images.jpg” u2:shapes=”_x0000_i1026″ border=0 v:shapes=”_x0000_i1026″> alt=”http://www.asianage.com/sites/default/files/images/jaganc_1.jpg.crop_display.related_images.jpg” u2:shapes=”_x0000_i1027″ v:shapes=”_x0000_i1027″> alt=”http://www.asianage.com/sites/default/files/images/justice_3.jpg.crop_display-.jpg.crop_display.related_images.jpg” u2:shapes=”_x0000_i1028″ border=0 v:shapes=”_x0000_i1028″>

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.”

http://vickynanjapa.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/the-need-for-a-judges-accountability-bill/

 

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