The case relating to Sahara group has been shifted to a new Bench. A statement issued by Supreme Court Registry on Thursday said that the Chief Justice of India had constituted “another” Bench to deal with pending cases against Sahara group after he received a letter from the judge hearing the case expressing his wish not to continue with the case.
Announcing the decision by CJI RM lodha, the statement confirmed that Justice JS Khehar, who on May 6 rejected Sahara chief Subrata Roy’s fresh proposal for bail, on the same day wrote to CJI to be relieved from the matter. He said that his brother judge, Justice KS Radhakrishnan is due to retire on May 15 and since his retirement, the matters regarding Sahara group must be heard by any other Bench of which he is not a part.
The statement given to the media said, “Communication dated May 6 was placed before the CJI on May 7. On May 7 itself the CJI has been pleased to constitute another bench to hear matters relating to Sahara Group, i.e. pending interlocutory applications, contempt petitions, etc.”
While the reason for changing the bench is not known, it is believed that the two judges hearing the Sahara case were under tremendous pressure. In the judgment, Justice Khehar specifically referred to the kind of pressure faced by them in dealing with the matter.
Rejecting Roy’s petition seeking recusal of the judges, the Bench of Justices Radhakrishnan and Khehar said, “Calculated psychological offensives and mind games adopted to seek recusal of judges, need to be strongly repulsed. We deprecate such tactics and commend a similar approach to other courts, when they experience such behaviour.”
Further evidence of mental pressure faced by judges was available on May 9, the last working day for Justice Radhakrishnan before his retirement on May 15. At a function organized for his farewell, he said, “These are matters pending with the Court, but the pressure, tension and strain both of us including Justice JS Khehar have undergone is unimaginable. I can’t explain. The pressure was reflected on my wife and family.”
With one judge complaining of pressure and another opting out of the case, the Sahara case is certain to become more controversial in the coming days. Meanwhile, Sahara chief, who is in jail since March 4, is likely to move a fresh proposal for his release in order to meet the Rs 10000 crore part-payment fixed by the bench as a condition for his release. Sahara Group had to make this payment, partly in cash and partly by way of bank guarantee to market regulator SEBI, which suspected transactions of the company under a debenture scheme by which over `20,000 crores was collected.