The Advocates’ Association, Bengaluru (AAB) on Tuesday demanded an in-house investigation into the issue of ‘threat’ posed to Justice H.P. Sandesh, a judge of the High Court, for questioning the functioning of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Pointing out that the remarks made by Justice Sandesh on July 4 gives an indication that another judge of the High Court tried to “influence” him in the matter of ACB, the association said that such an interference by another judge is unacceptable in the functioning of the judicial system.
Advocate to write to CJ
Addressing presspersons in Bengaluru, AAB president Vivek Subba Reddy said the association would write a letter to the Chief Justice of India conduct an in-house investigation to unearth the persons behind the ‘threat’ episode.
“The serious aspect in this incident is the remarks of Justice Sandesh about the threat of his transfer. His remarks that another judge of the High Court told him, based on the information given by another persons, that a judge was transferred to another district, is indeed shocking,” Mr. Reddy said.
The remarks also gives an impression that the another judge wanted Justice Sandesh not to proceeding further in the ACB matter, said Mr. Reddy.
Details like the name of the High Court judge, who spoke to Justice Sandesh and name of the person, who spoke to the another judge on the earlier instance of transfer of a judge to a district are required to come out in public, said Mr. Reddy.
“The present instance affects the independence of the judiciary and there must be some serious introspection on the conduct of the judges and their Dos and Don’ts,” the AAB said.
As Justice Sandesh had asked, “Whether the ADGP [Mr. Singh] is so powerful”, the AAB has said that it is vital to probe whether it was Mr. Singh, who was behind the another judge for ‘influencing’ Justice Sandesh.
Opening eyes
“Justice Sandesh by his bold judgeship is opening the eyes of three institutions, the political executives, the bureaucracy and the judiciary, and the AAB stands by him in his effort to correct the system,” Mr. Reddy said.
Justice Sandesh had disclosed the ‘threat’ aspect during the hearing on a petition filed by Mahesh P.S., a deputy tahsildar, who is an accused in the ₹5 lakh bribery case involving J. Manjunath, an IAS officer and the then Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru urban district.
Justice Sandesh had questioned the inaction of the ACB as no action was initiated against the DC despite prima facie allegations against him besides observing that probe agency was selecting in its anti-corruption operations.
