CBI indicts 3 sitting HC judges, UP deputy Lokayukta Uttar Pradesh State Consumer Commission chairperson in PF scam
https://tehalkatodayindia.blogspot.com/2010/08/cbi-indicts-3-sitting-hc-judges-up.html
NEW DELHI: The CBI has indicted three sitting high court judges and present Uttar Pradesh State Consumer Commission chairperson and the Upa-Lokayukta by naming them in the multi-crore PF scam probe status report submitted to the Supreme Court containing a list of 24 judges accused of misdemeanor.
Apart from naming former SC judge, Justice Tarun Chatterjee, the list includes the names of three sitting HC judges -- Justices Sushil Harkauli and J C S Rawat (both Jharkhand HC) and Justice Tarun Agarwal (Uttarakhand HC) -- and also those of Justice Bhanwar Singh, who is the chairperson of the consumer commission, and Swatantra Singh, the deputy Lokayukta of UP.
The CBI had said that it did not have enough evidence to launch prosecution against these 24 judges but nonetheless detailed their acts of commission and omission in its report to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of Allahabad HC for appropriate administrative action.
The three sitting HC judges were transferred out of Allahabad and Uttarakhand HCs in the wake of their name figuring in the probe of CBI. Subsequently, the Centre had put on hold the apex court Collegium's recommendation for bringing them back to their parent HCs.
On Wednesday, an apex court Bench comprising Justices D K Jain, V S Sirpurkar and G S Singhvi took an adverse view of present district judge of Ghaziabad Vishnuchandra Gupta's alleged attempt to interfere with the ongoing trial proceedings in the PF scam before the special CBI judge and issued notice to him asking him to respond within four weeks to the allegations detailed by CBI through Attorney General G E Vahanvati.
Taking note of the AG's apprehensions about a fair trial in the face of allegations of interference by the district judge and involvement of so many past district judges of the Ghaziabad court, the Bench also issued notices to 70 accused in the case asking why the trial be not transferred to another place, preferably Delhi.
What anguished the three-judge SC Bench was the audacity of the district judge to call the CBI prosecutor, district government counsel and local police to his chamber on July 26 and ask the latter to take back the CDs of local police in PF scam case from CBI. The case was transferred to CBI by the SC after the UP police expressed its inability to probe a scam of this nature involving so many VIPs.
When the CBI prosecutor said that the local police had no role in the case, Gupta then allegedly went on to advise the local police to implead themselves in the case as a party as they had filed the main chargesheet and conduct the trial along with CBI.
The Bench said: "This is extremely disturbing. We want to get the district judge's explanation. The investigation is being done by CBI on the basis of our orders and if he (Gupta) has done what is alleged, then it could construe as an obstruction of justice."
When Gupta's counsel A K Srivastava informed the court that the district judge has denied anything of this sort happening in his chamber, the Bench told him to file his affidavit in response to the notice.
It was alleged that between 2001 and 2008, the Ghaziabad District Court treasury officer Ashutosh Asthana, who died last year in mysterious circumstances in Dasana Jail, in collusion with successive district judges, some of whom went on to become HC judges, had siphoned off crores of rupees from the PF accounts of class III and IV employees causing huge loss to the exchequer.
Apart from naming former SC judge, Justice Tarun Chatterjee, the list includes the names of three sitting HC judges -- Justices Sushil Harkauli and J C S Rawat (both Jharkhand HC) and Justice Tarun Agarwal (Uttarakhand HC) -- and also those of Justice Bhanwar Singh, who is the chairperson of the consumer commission, and Swatantra Singh, the deputy Lokayukta of UP.
The CBI had said that it did not have enough evidence to launch prosecution against these 24 judges but nonetheless detailed their acts of commission and omission in its report to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of Allahabad HC for appropriate administrative action.
The three sitting HC judges were transferred out of Allahabad and Uttarakhand HCs in the wake of their name figuring in the probe of CBI. Subsequently, the Centre had put on hold the apex court Collegium's recommendation for bringing them back to their parent HCs.
On Wednesday, an apex court Bench comprising Justices D K Jain, V S Sirpurkar and G S Singhvi took an adverse view of present district judge of Ghaziabad Vishnuchandra Gupta's alleged attempt to interfere with the ongoing trial proceedings in the PF scam before the special CBI judge and issued notice to him asking him to respond within four weeks to the allegations detailed by CBI through Attorney General G E Vahanvati.
Taking note of the AG's apprehensions about a fair trial in the face of allegations of interference by the district judge and involvement of so many past district judges of the Ghaziabad court, the Bench also issued notices to 70 accused in the case asking why the trial be not transferred to another place, preferably Delhi.
What anguished the three-judge SC Bench was the audacity of the district judge to call the CBI prosecutor, district government counsel and local police to his chamber on July 26 and ask the latter to take back the CDs of local police in PF scam case from CBI. The case was transferred to CBI by the SC after the UP police expressed its inability to probe a scam of this nature involving so many VIPs.
When the CBI prosecutor said that the local police had no role in the case, Gupta then allegedly went on to advise the local police to implead themselves in the case as a party as they had filed the main chargesheet and conduct the trial along with CBI.
The Bench said: "This is extremely disturbing. We want to get the district judge's explanation. The investigation is being done by CBI on the basis of our orders and if he (Gupta) has done what is alleged, then it could construe as an obstruction of justice."
When Gupta's counsel A K Srivastava informed the court that the district judge has denied anything of this sort happening in his chamber, the Bench told him to file his affidavit in response to the notice.
It was alleged that between 2001 and 2008, the Ghaziabad District Court treasury officer Ashutosh Asthana, who died last year in mysterious circumstances in Dasana Jail, in collusion with successive district judges, some of whom went on to become HC judges, had siphoned off crores of rupees from the PF accounts of class III and IV employees causing huge loss to the exchequer.
Shukriya- Times Of India
NEW DELHI: This is the biggest ever indictment of the country's judiciary. An extensive CBI probe into the fradulent withdrawal of Rs 6.58 crore from the provident fund accounts of class III and IV employees in the Ghaziabad district court, has found a former Supreme Court judge along with 23 other sitting and retired judges ofAllahabad High Court and lower court judges guilty of misdemeanour.
After investigating as many as 47 judges for their alleged role in the scam, the CBI on Wednesday submitted a report to the Supreme Court detailing the misdemeanor and acts of omission and commission of those found guilty.
Though the judges in question are being let off because of lack of "prosecutable evidence", the findings of CBI probe can jolt those who play down the growing instance of irregularities in judiciary, saying that the phenomenon was limited to lower rungs.
The report perused by a Bench comprising Justices D K Jain, V S Sirpurkar and G S Singhvi contained the name of Justice Tarun Chatterjee, who retired on January 14 this year after nearly five and a half years as SC judge.
Though the former SC judge had denied any role in the wrong doing during the questioning done with prior permission of the then CJI, the CBI has said he had committed a "folly" which was an "indiscretion without any criminal intent". The Bench deferred a decision on the request from counsel Prashant Bhushan to make CBI's findings public.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati informed the Bench that the report was also being given to Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia and Allahabad High Court Chief Justice for taking action on the administrative side against the 24 judges, who were found to have committed acts of commission and omission but were not being proceeded against due to lack of "prosecutable evidence".
What was worse, the AG vehemently argued for transfer of the trial of the PF scam from Ghaziabad to Delhi while accusing the sitting district judge of interfering with the trial by attempting to rope in the Uttar Pradesh Police as prosecution in the case and asking CBI to take a back seat despite the agency having been entrusted the task of investigation by the apex court.
Vahanvati explained that if the district judge, under whose administrative jurisdiction the CBI judge conducting the trial functions, was to take such a stand, then the trial would be vitiated. More so, because the CBI has already chargesheeted six judges along with 72 others in the scam.
The Bench immediately stayed further trial proceedings before the special judge (CBI) in the PF scam that was spread from the year 2001 to 2008 with the accused, Asuthosh Asthana, as treasury officer playing a key role. The whistle on the scam was blown by the special judge, Ghaziabad, Rama Jain, who filed a complaint on February 15, 2008. Asthana died under mysterious circumstances in Dasana jail in September last year.
If it questioned the behaviour of 24 judges, then CBI also gave a clean chit to 17 other judges, including Justice S C Nigam of Allahabad HC, against whom it found no material evidence.
"In respect of 24 judges/judicial officers, sufficient prosecutable evidence was not available warranting their prosecution. A CBI report has been sent to the competent authorities for appropriate action against them for various acts of commission and omission," the agency said.
The CBI has found details of the heartless manner in which the hard-earned PF money of class III and IV employees of Ghaziabad courts was illegally siphoned out and lavishly spent on furniture, crockery, mobiles, electronic gadgets and appliances, laptops, rail tickets, taxi fare and other luxury items for the judges.
Those indicted district judges, who headed the Ghaziabad judiciary during the scam period, had almost made it a `way of life' to burn holes in low-grade employees' PF accounts not only for purchase of luxury items, but even for photography and video-recording of family functions and marriages.
"About 500 strips of negatives of the photographs, one CD and two mini video cassettes said to be related to the functions of various members of judiciary were recovered," CBI sources told TOI quoting from an earlier status report submitted to the SC.
"Out of the proceeds of crime, R P Mishra, R P Yadav, R N Mishra, A K Singh, R S Chauney and Arun Kumar -- who were district judges at various periods -- obtained valuable things/services in the form of monthly ration, fruits, vegetables, sweets, jewellery, clothing, saris, expensive electronic goods like computers, TV, fridge, washing machine, mobile phones, crockery items etc, availed taxis, transportation of goods and wooden furniture in their houses," the CBI said.
It is not that these judges could not have afforded mobile phones. But, as these came free, they seldom flinched in accepting freebies provided by Asthana courtesy the PF money of unsuspecting employees, the CBI found. "As per Asthana, he had provided about 60-70 mobile phone instruments to various members of the judiciary," the agency said.
Asthana, who as the treasury officer was tasked to safeguard the PF money of the employees, allegedly did not think twice before opening the strings of the illegally filled purse to meet the expenses for transporting articles -- furniture, crockery, utensils which again were bought from the PF money -- to the residences of the judges.
"Several invoices containing entries in respect of trucks/vehicles provided in last six years containing about 35 entries related to Asthana, sent to various judges of higher and subordinate judiciary have been found," CBI claimed. The trucks had an unbelievably smooth passage through states before reaching their destinations mainly because they were accompanied by a judicial certificate.
"Four original certificates said to be issued by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ghaziabad, certifying that the truck numbers mentioned in the certificate were carrying the articles of members of judiciary, which were given to the truck driver for smooth passage of goods while passing several states, have also been recovered," it said.
CBI also claimed to have recovered 28 bills of sale of crockery to Asthana and the monogram of the district judge, Ghaziabad, for the year 2006-07. It has also found that Asthana allegedly picked up 43 taxi bills of judges and paid them from the PF money.
"About 540 assorted slips, bills, pieces of papers, sketches etc. were got recovered from the carpenter from his wife. These bills pertain to purchase of various raw material for furniture items during last seven years," the CBI said. This probably completes the chain -- making of furniture and their transportation to the residences of the judges far away from Ghaziabad.
The carpenter, who made the furniture, appears to have impressed the judges with his skill, for he was called to the residences of the judges with fresh orders and he answered these calls travelling with rail tickets purchased from the PF money.
He was called to the judges' residences away from Ghaziabad in Lucknow and Allahabad as many as 17 times and his train tickets were allegedly bought from the PF money, the agency suspected.
NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court judge, three Allahabad High Court judges and one Uttarakhand High Court judge have been questioned by CBI in connection with the Ghaziabad PF scam.
The investigating agency asked them if they had any links with Ashutosh Asthana, the main accused in the scam. The judges denied even knowing Asthana.
Asthana during his interrogation had named 36 judges, who he claimed were beneficiaries of the scam.
Earlier this year, the CBI had unearthed shocking details of how hard-earned provident fund savings of class III and IV employees of Ghaziabad courts were illegally spent on furniture, crockery, mobiles, gadgets, laptops, rail tickets, taxi fares and other luxury items for judges.
These details figured in CBI's status report compiled after preliminary investigations into the Rs 23-crore PF scam, which involved questioning of a Supreme Court judge named by the prime accused, Ashutosh Asthana.
The report shows that the district judges, who were heading the Ghaziabad judiciary during the scam period, not only made expensive purchases from the scam money, they also spent it on photography and video-recording of family functions and marriages.
"About 500 strips of negatives of the photographs, one CD and two mini-video cassettes said to be related to functions of various members of the judiciary were recovered," CBI sources told TOI quoting from the status report, which is being compiled on the basis of the SC's September 23, 2008, order.
It is not that these judges could not have afforded a mobile phone. But, as it came free, seldom did they flinch in accepting freebies provided by Asthana, courtesy the PF money of unsuspecting employees, the CBI found. "As per Asthana, he had provided about 60-70 mobile handsets to various members of judiciary," the agency said.
The prime accused, who as the treasury officer was responsible for safeguarding the PF funds of employees, allegedly did not think twice about using that money to procure expensive furniture, crockery and utensils. Asthana also used the money to pay for transporting these goods to the residences of the judges.
"Several invoices containing entries on trucks/vehicles provided in the last six years have about 35 entries related to Asthana, in which goods were sent to various judges of higher and subordinate judiciary," the CBI claimed. The trucks had an unbelievably smooth passage through states before reaching their destinations mainly because they carried judicial certificates.
"Four original certificates, said to be issued by the chief judicial magistrate, Ghaziabad, certifying that the truck numbers mentioned in the certificate were carrying articles of members of judiciary, which were given to the truck driver for smooth passage of goods through several states, have also been recovered," it said.
CBI also claimed to have recovered 28 bills of sale of crockery to Asthana and monogram of the District Judge, Ghaziabad, for the year 2006-07. It has also found that Asthana allegedly picked up 43 taxi bills of judges and paid it from the PF money.
"About 540 assorted slips, bills, pieces of papers, sketches etc have been recovered from a carpenter. These relate to purchase of various raw materials for furniture items during last seven years," CBI said. The carpenter who made the furniture appears to have impressed the judges with his skill, for he was called to residences of judges with fresh orders and he answered these calls travelling with rail tickets purchased from the PF money.
The agency suspects this carpenter was summoned to judges' residences far away from Ghaziabad -in Lucknow and Allahabad - as many as 17 times and his train tickets were allegedly bought from the PF money.
The preliminary findings reflect the judges' weakness for electronic goods, especially mobile phones. "As many as 45 original bills have been seized from a Ghaziabad showroom denoting sale of many expensive electronic gadgets and appliances to various members of judiciary," the status report reveals.
After a preliminary probe that tracked Asthana's mobile call details, the CBI chanced upon purchase of four laptops, miscellaneous computer peripherals including monitors, CPUs, cameras and printers.
The probe was entrusted to CBI by the apex court after the UP police, which first investigated the matter, chickened out terming the task of investigating 35 judges as daunting.
When was the PF scam first noticed?
Since July 2007, CBI special judge Rama Jain, who was also the vigilance officer at Ghaziabad district court, was receiving several complaints from the court's Class III and Class IV employees about alleged withdrawal of their PF money. After an independent inquiry, she informed the Allahabad High Court of the involvement of at least three judges and the treasury officer in the scam. The court ordered a vigilance inquiry and instructed her to file an FIR. On February 15, 2008, she filed an FIR in Kavi Nagar police station against 82 persons, naming treasury officer Ashutosh Asthana as the mastermind of the scam.
What was the scam?
It is alleged that from 2001 to 2008, Asthana illegally withdrew Rs 6.58 crore from the provident fund accounts of class III and IV employees of the Ghaziabad district court. It is believed that Asthana used to present outsiders as existing employees and seek the permission of the judge-in-charge or the district judge for the withdrawal of a substantial amount of money from the PF accounts of the unwary lower grade employees. The officer who later became a prosecution witness revealed that he was not the sole player and many judges were also involved in the scam. He claimed that while he pocketed a part of the money, the concerned judicial officers were also rewarded with expensive gifts. Asthana kept a record of the receipts of the gifts, signed by the judges or their family members. He claimed to have given cash and gifts such as airconditioners, refrigerators, expensive clothes, jewellery and furniture to as many as 36 judges.
Why was CBI involved?
The evidence given by Asthana reportedly implicated a Supreme Court judge, eight judges of Allahabad High Court, one each of Uttarakhand and Calcutta HC and 23 lower court judges. Considering the involvement of high-profile judges and the interstate spread of the case, Uttar Pradesh police expressed its inability to investigate the case. The case was brought to the notice of SC, which in September 2008, transferred it to CBI.
What happened to the main accused?
In October 2009, Asthana, the lone person arrested for the scam died mysteriously in UP's Dasna district jail. His family alleged poisoning because he was perfectly healthy and wasn't under any medication. Before his death, he had filed two affidavits in August 2009 claiming that judges were putting pressure on him. On October 21, 2009 the Supreme Court ordered a judicial probe into Asthana's death.
