The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to CBI which is now investigating the case of the alleged murder of Uttam Anand; Additional District and Sessions Judge of Dhanbad district.
The Supreme Court bench of CJI N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant issued notice to CBI while hearing the Dhanbad case and judicial officials across the country facing threat while discharging their duty.
While posting the matter for hearing on Monday the court said that the State Government can’t be absolved from the responsibility if a young and upright judicial official has died.
The court said there are numerous examples of harassment of judicial officials and directed states to file status report by August 17 on the larger issue of security to the judges besides creation of a dedicated force to provide security at the courts and the judges.
The court expressed concern over a dangerous trend where gangsters, high profile persons start maligning the image of judges when they do not get an order of their choice.
The court charged the CBI and Intelligence Bureau for not cooperating with the judiciary whenever such complaints of harassment and threatening to judicial officials are forwarded to these agencies for action.
As coal mafias are quite powerful and active in Dhanbad district and surrounding area Dhanbad; the court asked the advocate general of Jharkhand as to why no security arrangements were made at the judge colony. Jharkhand advocate general Rajiv Ranjan told the court that in Jharkhand judges’ colonies are protected by boundary walls. To this CJI said that whether boundary wall can stop gangsters from harming judges.
The deceased judge was knocked down by an auto-rickshaw on the morning of July 28 while he was on a morning walk. An FIR was registered by the police on a complaint from his wife. The CCTV footage revealed the auto-rickshaw drifted towards him despite there being no traffic. Dhanbad police arrested auto-rickshaw drivers Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma. Later on, the case was handed over to the CBI.