In a stunning disclosure, a Madras High Court judge told an open court on Monday that a Union minister had called and tried to influence him to grant anticipatory bail to a medical student and his doctor-father in a CBI case concerning a forged marksheet.
Justice R Regupathi threatened to write to the government and the Prime Minister about the matter if the advocate appearing in the case failed to submit a written unconditional apology by Tuesday.
"A Union minister talked to me. He sought to influence me to release this petitioner on anticipatory bail," Justice Regupathi told startled advocates and officers in the court. He did not name the minister.
The matter relates to anticipatory bail pleas of S Kiruba Shridhar, a third-year MBBS student in a private medical college in Puducherry, and his father, C Krishnamurthy. The two have been booked by the CBI for allegedly using the services of a Pondicherry University official and a middleman to inflate marks.
The hearing began on Monday with Justice Regupathi saying he was not inclined to grant any relief and pointing out to their counsel that the pleas had already been rejected by him earlier on June 15. He said he would reject it this time as well. To this, the advocate complained that the judge was passing orders on the basis of the submission of prosecutors alone.
An enraged Justice Regupathi, noting that most of the orders passed by him since morning were in favour of the petitioners, said pressure was being exerted on him in this case. "A Union minister talked to me about the matter," he said. "You yourself know everything."
The judge said unless an unconditional apology was tendered, he would incorporate details of the conversation in his order.
He then referred the case to Chief Justice H L Gokhale with a request that the matter be posted before another bench for appropriate orders.
The CBI's case is that Kiruba Shridhar of Arubadai Veedu Medical College had failed his ophthalmology paper in the first two attempts. On the third and final attempt, he had got only nine out of 40 marks. With the help of a university section officer and a middleman, he had managed to get the original answer scripts replaced and inflated the marks to 16, which was the minimum pass mark, according to CBI.
The agency secured the original answer sheet that had been replaced by them. It also claimed to have found evidence to prove that the father paid off the culprits. While the university employee and the middleman were arrested in May 2009, the father-son duo are still at large. Investigations are on.
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Merit and experience will hold the key to elevation to the bench...
Merit and experience will continue to be the sole criterion for selection of judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court. The Centre has no immediate plan to bring in reservation for backward classes in the higher judiciary, law minister Veerappa Moily said on Wednesday.
The entry level in judiciary -- appointment of judges to subordinate courts -- already had reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs and there was no proposal to bring in quota system in the selection of judges for HCs and the SC.
"Frankly speaking, we have not applied our mind to this issue (reservation in higher judiciary). There is no immediate plan to bring in quota. It is a policy decision and the government has not applied its mind on this issue," he said.
Moily is the first law minister in decades to make a statement that "judiciary alone cannot be blamed for the monster of pendency" and lay the blame at the government's door for clogging the wheels of justice by resorting to unnecessary litigation, which entails harassment of people.
"We have to take steps and drastically reduce government litigation. Even when there is no need to approach a higher court, appeals are filed. Someone has to be made accountable for taking a decision to file needless appeals," Moily said, adding, "As government, we should be doing justice and not leave it to the courts."
He is very serious about it and is shortly going to take up this issue -- making officials accountable for deciding to file appeals -- with all ministries and the state governments.
This means, babus who till now used to mechanically file appeals in higher courts whenever a decision went against the government could be asked to answer -- why the judgment was not accepted and the need for filing an appeal in the higher court.
"Why should people rush to judiciary when it is the government which should be granting relief to people," Moily said and gave this example -- If the land acquisition process is followed properly and the government ensures that there is no injustice, would people rush to courts and suffer for 15 years in search of justice.
The entry level in judiciary -- appointment of judges to subordinate courts -- already had reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs and there was no proposal to bring in quota system in the selection of judges for HCs and the SC.
"Frankly speaking, we have not applied our mind to this issue (reservation in higher judiciary). There is no immediate plan to bring in quota. It is a policy decision and the government has not applied its mind on this issue," he said.
Moily is the first law minister in decades to make a statement that "judiciary alone cannot be blamed for the monster of pendency" and lay the blame at the government's door for clogging the wheels of justice by resorting to unnecessary litigation, which entails harassment of people.
"We have to take steps and drastically reduce government litigation. Even when there is no need to approach a higher court, appeals are filed. Someone has to be made accountable for taking a decision to file needless appeals," Moily said, adding, "As government, we should be doing justice and not leave it to the courts."
He is very serious about it and is shortly going to take up this issue -- making officials accountable for deciding to file appeals -- with all ministries and the state governments.
This means, babus who till now used to mechanically file appeals in higher courts whenever a decision went against the government could be asked to answer -- why the judgment was not accepted and the need for filing an appeal in the higher court.
"Why should people rush to judiciary when it is the government which should be granting relief to people," Moily said and gave this example -- If the land acquisition process is followed properly and the government ensures that there is no injustice, would people rush to courts and suffer for 15 years in search of justice.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The first visually impaired judicial officer in Tamil Nadu to hold court.
T Chakkaravarthy lost his vision when he was a toddler, but he never lost sight of his dream. On June 1, he created a judicial history by probably becoming the first visually impaired judicial officer in Tamil Nadu to hold court.
In March 2009, when the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) included him in the list of 180-odd candidates for the subordinate judiciary, Chakkaravarthy's 17-year dream to enter the judicial service was realised. Born at Thimiri village near Arcot in Vellore district, this 41-year-old lost his eye sight at four, when he was down with small pox. He is now the proud occupant of III additional district munsif's chair in Coimbatore.
On his first independent day in court on Monday, Chakkaravarthy heard cases on his own. Though he said he had struggled a lot to reach the position, and indicated that he might require the services of an assistant, he did not wish to elaborate on that. He said that being a judicial officer he would require permission from the High Court Registry to speak about himself and other related issues. Perhaps to assist him in his work, Chakkaravarthy's wife Thilaka is studying LLB now.
"This candidate did not require any special arrangements during his training and induction programme," said S Vimala, district judge and former director of the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy. Noting that Chakkaravarthy had cleared all requirements before his selection, Vimala said chief justice HL Gokhale met him during the induction training and assured him of the higher judiciary's all moral support to him.
The issue of visually impaired persons seeking to break into the judiciary is not new in Tamil Nadu. In 2003, authorities rejected a visually disabled candidate's application for a subordinate judiciary post. He had to file a writ petition seeking a direction to the authorities to permit him to write the examination. Though he managed to be short-listed from out of thousands of aspirants, the candidate stumbled at the interview stage, said a jurist who argued for the candidate.
The case, however, had triggered a serious debate on the issue, with questions such as what is handicap?' Referring to the half a dozen outstation judges, who were on transfer from other states, the jurist had argued that language was a barrier/handicap to those judges, and that they had to take the help of either a co-judge or the court staff for translation or interpretation.
When the bench, headed by justice Jayasimha Babu, asked as to how would the disabled person look into the eyes of the accused and assess the demeanour, the jurist argued that it was an old technique as "looks are deceptive nowadays." The bench relented finally and allowed him to write the examinations.
The jurist had also to point out the fact that justice Zakeria Mohammed Zak Yacoob became judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa despite his blindness. In West Bengal, Sadhan Gupta was made advocate general in 1986-87 though he too was visually impaired.
The district munsif only needs to listen to chief examination and cross-examination before dictating his verdict to a steno, he said.
In March 2009, when the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) included him in the list of 180-odd candidates for the subordinate judiciary, Chakkaravarthy's 17-year dream to enter the judicial service was realised. Born at Thimiri village near Arcot in Vellore district, this 41-year-old lost his eye sight at four, when he was down with small pox. He is now the proud occupant of III additional district munsif's chair in Coimbatore.
On his first independent day in court on Monday, Chakkaravarthy heard cases on his own. Though he said he had struggled a lot to reach the position, and indicated that he might require the services of an assistant, he did not wish to elaborate on that. He said that being a judicial officer he would require permission from the High Court Registry to speak about himself and other related issues. Perhaps to assist him in his work, Chakkaravarthy's wife Thilaka is studying LLB now.
"This candidate did not require any special arrangements during his training and induction programme," said S Vimala, district judge and former director of the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy. Noting that Chakkaravarthy had cleared all requirements before his selection, Vimala said chief justice HL Gokhale met him during the induction training and assured him of the higher judiciary's all moral support to him.
The issue of visually impaired persons seeking to break into the judiciary is not new in Tamil Nadu. In 2003, authorities rejected a visually disabled candidate's application for a subordinate judiciary post. He had to file a writ petition seeking a direction to the authorities to permit him to write the examination. Though he managed to be short-listed from out of thousands of aspirants, the candidate stumbled at the interview stage, said a jurist who argued for the candidate.
The case, however, had triggered a serious debate on the issue, with questions such as what is handicap?' Referring to the half a dozen outstation judges, who were on transfer from other states, the jurist had argued that language was a barrier/handicap to those judges, and that they had to take the help of either a co-judge or the court staff for translation or interpretation.
When the bench, headed by justice Jayasimha Babu, asked as to how would the disabled person look into the eyes of the accused and assess the demeanour, the jurist argued that it was an old technique as "looks are deceptive nowadays." The bench relented finally and allowed him to write the examinations.
The jurist had also to point out the fact that justice Zakeria Mohammed Zak Yacoob became judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa despite his blindness. In West Bengal, Sadhan Gupta was made advocate general in 1986-87 though he too was visually impaired.
The district munsif only needs to listen to chief examination and cross-examination before dictating his verdict to a steno, he said.
Monday, June 1, 2009
The new vacancies and new hopes in Madras High Court...
The number of judges in the Madras high court is all set to come down by at least seven, thanks to the impending transfers, elevations and retirements. At present, the court has 57 judges, as against the sanctioned strength of 60.
In effect, the higher judiciary, which is at the fag end of its five-week summer recess, must find suitable candidates to fill up a total of 10 judicial vacancies this year.
In addition to the three existing vacancies, a total of seven seats are expected to fall vacant in the High Court this year. While the names of justice S J Mukhopadhaya and justice Prafulla Kumar Misra have already been cleared for elevation as chief justices of Himachal Pradesh High Court and Patna High Court respectively, two others -- justice Raja Elango and justice Aruna Jagadeesan -- are to be transferred to two neighbouring states shortly.
While justice A Kulasekaran is scheduled to retire from service on June 13, two others -- justice S Ashok Kumar and justice S R Singharavelu -- who were transferred out of Tamil Nadu a couple of years ago, are also slated to attain superannuation in July-August.
"By August, we will have 10 vacancies to fill. The selection process will begin soon after the court reopens on June 8," said a senior judge.
About a year after the sanctioned strength of the Madras High Court was increased from 42 to 60, it received a batch of 14 new judges on March 31. Soon after touching an all-time high of 58 judges, justice A C Arumugaperumal Adityan retired, bringing down the strength to 57.
Though this year's last bout of retirements is slated to occur in July-August, nothing prevents the higher judiciary from initiating the selection process and recommending names for appointment. In fact, the Supreme Court, which has the final say in selection, and the Central Government have repeatedly called upon the High Courts to shortlist candidates for even anticipated vacancies.
"As chief justice HL Gokhale is from Maharashtra, which is known to recommend youngsters for constitutional seats, we expect him to consider us for appointment," said an advocate, who was overlooked last time apparently because he was not yet 45 years old. "There is no rationale to have 45 years as benchmark, especially when even advocates below 40 have been cleared for appointment in some other states," he said.
This time around, the competition will be most intense among advocates aged between 45 and 50, said a senior jurist.
In effect, the higher judiciary, which is at the fag end of its five-week summer recess, must find suitable candidates to fill up a total of 10 judicial vacancies this year.
In addition to the three existing vacancies, a total of seven seats are expected to fall vacant in the High Court this year. While the names of justice S J Mukhopadhaya and justice Prafulla Kumar Misra have already been cleared for elevation as chief justices of Himachal Pradesh High Court and Patna High Court respectively, two others -- justice Raja Elango and justice Aruna Jagadeesan -- are to be transferred to two neighbouring states shortly.
While justice A Kulasekaran is scheduled to retire from service on June 13, two others -- justice S Ashok Kumar and justice S R Singharavelu -- who were transferred out of Tamil Nadu a couple of years ago, are also slated to attain superannuation in July-August.
"By August, we will have 10 vacancies to fill. The selection process will begin soon after the court reopens on June 8," said a senior judge.
About a year after the sanctioned strength of the Madras High Court was increased from 42 to 60, it received a batch of 14 new judges on March 31. Soon after touching an all-time high of 58 judges, justice A C Arumugaperumal Adityan retired, bringing down the strength to 57.
Though this year's last bout of retirements is slated to occur in July-August, nothing prevents the higher judiciary from initiating the selection process and recommending names for appointment. In fact, the Supreme Court, which has the final say in selection, and the Central Government have repeatedly called upon the High Courts to shortlist candidates for even anticipated vacancies.
"As chief justice HL Gokhale is from Maharashtra, which is known to recommend youngsters for constitutional seats, we expect him to consider us for appointment," said an advocate, who was overlooked last time apparently because he was not yet 45 years old. "There is no rationale to have 45 years as benchmark, especially when even advocates below 40 have been cleared for appointment in some other states," he said.
This time around, the competition will be most intense among advocates aged between 45 and 50, said a senior jurist.
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- I am a Lawyer by profession. Regardless of whom I meet or what I do or what I have become, it is the friends I grew up, that I feel.
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