http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne021010Chief_Injustices.asp
From the affidavits given by Mr Prashant Bhushan in contempt case against him, it is prima-facie evident that corrupt judges in SC have been spared only because many MPs do not want to sign on impeachment motions, since they have their own cases pending in SC!
So judiciary is independent of legislature, but legislators are not independent from judiciary!
Still believe in the white lie that Indian judiciary is highly respected in the world? By whom? Indian judiciary itself!
Aug 25, 2010
NEW DELHI: The two sons of former chief justice of India Y K Sabharwal, who are being probed for their previous business deals, suddenly came to buy a Rs 122 crore property in Lutyens' Delhi four months ago, thanks to a series of controversial orders passed by the Delhi high court.
Chetan and Nitin Sabharwal, together with their partner Kabul Chawla, chief of real estate company BPTP, turned out to be the ultimate beneficiaries of high court orders passed since 2006 in connection with the auction of the 2.70-acre property at 7 Sikandra Road.
An appeal challenging the April 2010 sale deed revealed that the three partners had not participated in an auction in September 2006 on which a two-judge bench declared Triveni Infrastructure the highest bidder. Triveni was required to pay 25% of its bid amount, Rs 117 crore, within a week and the balance within three weeks thereafter, subject to the condition of the property being converted from leasehold to freehold.
But Triveni became liable to pay the 75% component only in February 2009 as it had taken so long for the property to be converted to freehold. It was then that a succession of single-judge orders, in breach of the schedule laid down by the larger bench, resulted in the payment being finally made, with a Rs 5 crore penalty, in April 2010, that too by the two Sabharwals and Chawla although they had no formal stake in Triveni.
The appeal being heard by a special bench headed by Justice A K Sikri shed light on the various ways in which the 2006 order had been bypassed, particularly by Justice Manmohan Singh, leading to a windfall for the Sabharwal brothers and Chawla:
* When the owners of the property filed a contempt application against Triveni for its failure to pay the balance in February 2009, Justice Manmohan Singh gave more time to the defaulter directing that it would have to pay Rs 3 crore by July-end and Rs 85 crore by October-end. Later, he extended the time further to December-end with a penalty of Rs 5 crore.
* The repeated extension of the deadline by Justice Manmohan Singh was contrary to the division bench's direction that if the highest bidder failed to make the payments on time, the property would have to be sold to the next highest bidder, Prime Commercial.
* In June 2009, Justice Manmohan Singh allowed a four-day old company, Angle Infrastructure, to come in place of Triveni for paying the balance and to take over the property. The owners of the property appealed against this order as it had been passed without any notice to them.
* A week before the expiry of the December 2009 deadline, Justice Manmohan Singh gave a fresh extension to Angle, this time by five months. He also granted Angle's request to introduce the condition that it would be required to pay the balance only when the owners were in a position to deliver immediate possession of the property. Most of the owners challenged this order, again because it had been passed without any notice to them.
* A month before the expiry of the May 2010 deadline, Triveni and Angle filed a joint application requesting that the balance be allowed to be paid by the Sabharwals and Chawla and that the property be registered in their names. Since the Sabharwal brothers and Chawla appeared in the court with demand drafts of the balance amount, Justice Rajiv Shakdher directed the owners on April 20 to execute the sale deed within two days.
That is how the Sabharwal brothers and Chawla acquired the property from an auction in which they had not participated at all. The appeal filed subsequently by the second highest bidder, Prime, challenged the manner in which the court had granted undue concessions to Triveni and deprived it (Prime) of its entitlement under the auction terms to buy out the property. Seeking a fresh auction of the Sikandra Road property, Prime offered to pay Rs 150 crore in keeping with the appreciation of the property value in these four years.
The real estate business partnership between the Sabharwal brothers and Chawla has been the subject of income tax probe following allegations that they had unduly benefited from the 2006 sealing drive against commercial properties in residential areas of Delhi launched by the then CJI, Justice Y K Sabharwal.
A bus conductor in UP was dismissed from service, for not remitting money to government for 25 passengers. Supreme court has upheld his dismissal from service.
Telecom minister Raja was involved in scam of 2G spectrum auction which resulted in loss of thousands of crores to government.
The message seems to be that one should be a minister, or judge in higher courts, to be able to escape all punishment and get immunity from charges of corruption. A high court judge need not worry about 15 lakh of cash kept at doorstep, but a bus conductor must worry about misappropriation of funds! These are the high standards judiciary wants to preach.
http://publication.samachar.com/pub_article.php?id=9200357&nextids=9200357
The apex court gave the judgement while upholding the dismissal of a bus conductor Suresh Chandra Sharma of the UP State Road Transport Corporation. Sharma was dismissed from service by the Corporation after a departmental inquiry held him guilty of collecting fares from about 25 passengers but not remitting them to the official exchequer.
The Uttaranchal High Court, however, had quashed the dismissal on the ground that the inquiry was vitiated as the authorities did not examine the passengers and ordered Sharma's reinstatement, but without any back wages.
Aggrieved by the order, both the corporation and the employee filed appeals in the apex court.
Upholding the Corporation's appeal, the apex court citing its 1996 judgement in the Municipal Committee, Bahadurgarh Vs. Krishnan Bihari case said, "In cases involving corruption - there cannot be any other punishment than dismissal.
"Any sympathy shown in such cases is totally uncalled for and opposed to public interest. The amount misappropriated may be small or large; it is the act of misappropriation that is relevant."
The apex court further cited the Vinod Kumar Vs UPSRTC case (2008) that "the punishment should always be proportionate to the gravity of the misconduct. However, in a case of corruption/misappropriation, the only punishment is dismissal."
The bench said that in a domestic inquiry, complicated principles and procedures laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act need not be strictly adhered to.
"The only right of a delinquent employee is that he must be informed as to what are the charges against him and he must be given full opportunity to defend himself on the said charges.
"More so, the High Court is under an obligation to give not only the reasons but cogent reasons while reversing the findings of fact recorded by a domestic tribunal. In case the judgment and order of the High Court is found not duly supported by reasons, the judgment itself stands vitiated," the apex court added.
Justice Shylendra Kumar of Karnataka HC recently posted a new entry on his blog as given below.
http://sites.google.com/site/justdvskumar/netizens-citizens-vii-22-05-2010
What was a new revelation was about the extent of funds available (Rs 13 Crore) to judiciary at their discretion, under aegis of Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, and the disclosure by Justice Kumar that he himself had to wait for 3-4 months to get information related to certain expenditures under category of ‘hospitality expenditures’ from the Karnataka high court registry!
Here is information about what Legal Services Authority is all about from their website here: http://www.kslsa.kar.nic.in/aims_objectives.htm
The Legal Services Act 1987 is basically aimed to provide free and competent legal Service to the weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities, and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity.
Creating Legal awareness, Legal Aid and Settlement of disputes through amicable settlement are the main functions of the Authority.
Needless to say, it is an authority with mandate of delivering effective justice, and esp to help poor people who may not be able to afford lawyers.
Here are the relevant part of Justice Kumar’s blog post with important points in bold:
Recently, I heard that there were some malpractices, particularly, some illegalities having taken place in the matter of expenditure incurred by the High Court under the head ‘hospitality expenditure’, more so, during the stewardship of Justice P D Dinakaran as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.
Being a little disturbed with such development, I had sought for some factual information from the registry and the information which I received has not put me at ease, but on the other hand has put me to great uneasiness and anxiety, particularly about the way and the direction which our High Court is heading.
I am placing the particulars of expenditure incurred as furnished by the registry for the information and perusal of the general public, an information which is otherwise available to you all under the Right to Information Act, and to form your own opinion and of course to react and respond suitably.
Under our constitutional scheme, judiciary does not have financial independence and the expenses in the judiciary is also part of the budgetary proposal and being voted by the State legislatures and the Union in the Parliament and therefore to that extent judiciary was blissfully kept independent of any financial responsibilities and the concomitant accountability with regard to expenses.
While that is the scheme under our Constitution, in recent times, with all sorts of additional responsibilities having sprouted on the courts, particularly, at the level of the High Courts and the Supreme Court and the High Courts and the Supreme Court getting more and more active on the administrative side, have been privy to considerable extent of State funds and whom the amount is being spent at the sole discretion of the Members of the Judiciary.
The checks and balances which are available under the Constitutional scheme and the statutory scheme in respect of any State expenditure, particularly, the scrutiny by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India under Article 148 of the Constitution of India is not fully or strictly applied in respect of expenditure incurred by the Judiciary in respect of funds which are available at the disposal of the Judiciary wherein the discretion of the Chief Justices matters. The State making available vast funds as part of the services made available to the general public under the Karnataka State Legal Services Authorities Rules, 1996 and being at the sole discretion of the Executive Chairman who is a Member of the Judiciary and Judge in the High Court, while has given considerable financial independence and capability to the Judge heading this Authority, the manner of utilization/application of such large amount has come in for criticism and over a period of time, the public opinion is that Judges are most ill suited to occupy the position of a Executive Chairman of the Legal Services Authority and it should be looked after by other persons who do not have the onerous judicial responsibilities to discharge.
Well, opinions may differ, but the fact remains that Judges becoming privy to large or vast amounts has not been a healthy trend if one should look at the developments during the past two decades and it certainly calls for a debate, a rethinking and suitable changes if so felt and warranted.
I learnt that Karnataka State Legal Services Authority had received not less than Rupees Thirteen Crores for its annual expenses during the year 2009-10 and I was not very happy with the manner of the funds allocated to expenditure of this Authority and I had called for information about the same when I was serving at the Circuit Bench of the High Court at Gulbarga during November-December 2009.
It took more than three to four months for the Member Secretary of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority to part with this information even to a Judge of the High Court and it is only with some pressure and threats I was able to get the information. This again is not a very healthy development, particularly, if persons who are entrusted with public funds are asked for accounting the same, it should be available at a minute’s notice and at fingertips, and not furnished after three months like some Judges, declaring the particulars of their assets and liabilities!.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100523/main6.htm
Chandigarh, May 22
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has as many as 16 Judges with their kith and kin practising in the same court. The Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has already forwarded their list to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.
The list was sent in response to a communication received by the high court from the ministry. In the beginning of this year, the ministry had asked the high courts across the country to identify and furnish the list of all such judges who have their kith and kin practising in the same court.
Available information suggests that some of the judges here not only have their sons, daughters but also their siblings and other relations like nephews and brothers-in-law practising in the same court. At least four judges have their relatives working in the office of the Punjab and Haryana advocates-general office. Some other judges have relatives appearing before the Bench in the same court.
The list forwarded by the high court mentions the names of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Justice Ashutosh Mohunta, Justice M.M. Kumar, Justice S.K. Mittal, Justice Hemant Gupta, Justice V.K. Sharma, Justice TPS Mann, Justice Mahesh Grover, Justice S.D Anand, Justice K.C Puri, Justice K.S. Ahluwalia, Justice Sabina, Justice Jora Singh, Justice M.S. Sullar, Justice Gurdev Singh and Justice Harbans Lal.
The issue again gained momentum only recently after Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily told The Tribune in an exclusive interview that the Law Ministry was asking the judges to give an undertaking at the time of their elevation that they would not function in a court where their relatives were practising.
Moily’s assertion had come in the presence of Attorney-General Goolam E. Vahanvati, Additional Solicitor-General Mohan Jain and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at a ceremony to felicitate the law minister.
The Law Commission has discussed the issue in its 230th report as well. The commission has made it clear that it is against the policy of transferring Chief Justices; and he should rather be from the same high court. But while making appointment of judges, advocates with kith and kin practising in a high court, should not be posted in the same high court. This would eliminate “uncle judges”, it said.The Punjab and Haryana High Court’s former chief justice, Justice B. K. Roy, too had earlier issued an administrative order barring a group of 10-12 judges from hearing any case argued by their relatives. In his order, Justice Roy had said: “It was generally believed that A, B, C and D (all judges) constituted a mutual cooperative society in the sense it was believed that each of the four judges (A, B, C and D) would protect the sons of the three other judges.” The order had led to widespread protests.
List of judges
Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel
Justice Ashutosh Mohunta
Justice M.M. Kumar
Justice S.K. Mittal
Justice Hemant Gupta
Justice V.K. Sharma
Justice TPS Mann
Justice Mahesh Grover
Justice S.D Anand
Justice K.C Puri
Justice K.S. Ahluwalia
Justice Sabina
Justice Jora Singh
Justice M.S. Sullar
Justice Gurdev Singh
Justice Harbans Lal
Such is the secrecy and protection afforded to powerful vested interests who control the judiciary from behind, that no case of judicial corruption can ever be investigated thoroughly and properly. Read news below:
A Gurumurthy, the judge in whose court a scam involving court officials, banks and financial institutions to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees was unearthed, has been transferred.
Though transfers are routine, with four notifications on April 24 transferring District Judges, Fast Track Court Judges, Senior Civil Judges and Civil Judges, this transfer comes just three weeks after a departmental inquiry under the judge was initiated.
Gurumurthy, the XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Mayo Hall), is one of the 33 judges of the ‘Senior Civil Judges’ cadre who has been transferred, according to the notification (no GOB(I).4(2)/2010) issued by the Registrar General of the High Court.
The notification says he will take charge as the Senior Civil Judge and JMFC, Ramdurg, Belgaum district, from May 24.
PROBE CURTAILED
It is feared that with the transfer of the judge, the departmental inquiry would suffer. It is learnt nearly a month after the inquiry was initiated in the first week of April, Gurumurthy submitted his report. But the same was sent back to him with directions for further probe. Now with less than two weeks for his transfer, Gurumurthy’s report may not be complete as the XIV ACMM has more than one lakh cases before it, according to sources.
Registrar General of the High Court, R B Budihal refused to talk about the issue. His office replied he would not entertain any journalist seeking information on the issue.
Bangalore Mirror had, on May 4, reported how thousands of citizens were cheated using fake seals of judges’ signatures and fake court papers for serving non-bailable warrants (NBW) on them.
Some 70,000 fake NBWs were said to have been issued in the last three years to people across the country.
Three officials of the court - Tulasamma, the sirastedar, Balasubramani, the bench clerk, and Narasaiah, a case worker, who allegedly ran a ‘parallel court’ in collusion with banks and their advocates, were suspended.
Banks and court staff colluded to issue NBWs to borrowers whose cheques had bounced. After these fake NBWs were issued, the banks, either with the help of police or musclemen, forced the debtors to pay up the entire loan amount.
As per the law, no sworn statement of any bank manager has been recorded. The fraud also involved sending fake NBWs to people who were not under the jurisdiction of the court, including Kolkata, Mumbai, Allahabad and Bihar.
The following statements by outgoing Chief Justice of India will not have many believers, except maybe in Supreme Court itself! The last sentence is really bothering, if people do not understand working of judiciary, is it really a good thing? Won’t it be good to have judiciary under ambit of RTI -- I know it already is except Supreme Court, but just try filing an RTI on any court and see for yourself.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/corruption-in-judiciary-is-minimal-not-very-serious-cji/616901/
Outgoing Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan says corruption in judiciary was a cause of concern but the situation was "not very serious" and that it was actually "miniscule" considering the number of cases and judges.
"Corruption will always bother anyone. But considering the number of cases and judges, it is actually miniscule.
Situation is not very serious," the CJI said in an interview to CNN-IBN on Monday on the eve of demitting office after a tenure of a little over three years.
However, the CJI appeared to be haunted by Justice Dinakaran issue and expressed his disappointment over the motive even imputed to him on this score while maintaining that the apex court collegium/ judges work systematically in harmony with the norms.
"I felt sorry that some motives were attached to me as well. We work systematically following all the norms," he said.
On being asked whether the credibility of judges did not get erosioned as a number of them accept government posts after their retirement, he said it was the government which wants us there.
"There are so many tribunals that have to be manned by retired judges of the Supreme Court. There is TDSAT etc.
People think that SC judges may favour the government to get these posts, but now actually its other way. The government wants us there," the CJI said.
The CJI, who recently gave verdict on high-voltage Ambani brothers gas dispute, said that he never felt any pressure while adjudicating any case.
"I have never felt any pressure in any case that I have heard," he said adding that "people do not understand the working of judiciary. No politician will like to come and meet a judge. He will be in trouble, suppose the judge expose him, his political career can be in danger."
Bangalore Mirror has broken a story which shows how corruption is seeping right through Indian judiciary. The Provident Fund scam was involved with high court judges and a supreme court judge too. The case below involves court officials but not judges.
So there is taint of corruption in courts right from Supreme court to lower courts… corruption has become the great leveller in Indian judiciary.
Bangalore Mirror has exclusive details of the cheating committed on innocent citizens of India. A room full of some 70,000 fake Non-Bailable Warrants (NBW) is being scrutinised at the court.
Officials investigating the scam have found fake seals of judges’ signatures, and cooked-up court papers. The documents were found in the pending branch of the court complex.
A bank-court staff ring used these papers against clueless borrowers of ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited, Cholamandalam DBS Finance Limited, Reliance Capital and HDFC Bank, among others. The fraud was committed against borrowers whose cheques bounced.
When an EMI cheque bounces, the bank and its advocates get into the act by getting forged documents and NBWs out of the ‘parallel court’ operating at the court.
Then, the bank sends its musclemen or takes the help of the police to confront the ‘accused’ with fake warrants.
After threatening the debtor, they recover the entire loan amount, and not just the EMI.
This is against the procedure laid down under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. No sworn statement of the bank manager is recorded nor is any sworn statement taken in any of these cases.
Another major fraud is that most of the accused are not in Bangalore. Many live in cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Allahabad, and in remote corners of Jharkand and Bihar. The story unfolded after many such harassed customers complained to the court, sources said.
NO JURISDICTION
The law says a Bangalore court cannot have jurisdiction on an offence committed outside the city.
The truth is, none of these accused had even visited Bangalore before. So, there was no question of the XIV ACMM having jurisdiction over these people.
The scam has shaken the judiciary in Karnataka. One source told this journalist that an advocate had filed 30,000 such cases allegedly on behalf of Cholamandalam DBS Finance in the last six months. An advocate reportedly representing Kotak Mahindra Bank has filed around 10,000 fake cases in the last six months.
The preliminary inquiry has revealed that advocates representing many banks, in collusion with court staff, have created their fake stationery for preparing the orders.
These orders don't have the date of execution nor are the so-called signatures supported by dates. A closer look at the order sheets reveals that they have been faked.
XIV ACMM A Gurumurthy refused to meet the Bangalore Mirror team when we said we wanted to get details from him.
Extraordinary situations call for extraordinary measures
