New Delhi: Justice H.P. Sandesh of the Karnataka high court has said that he was threatened with transfer for handling cases being handled by the state’s anti-corruption bureau, Bar and Bench has reported.
The high court was hearing the bail application of an accused who was allegedly caught accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to issue an order from the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
The Bar and Bench report says that the judge found that the counsel for the Anti-Corruption Bureau had failed to produce certain documents before the court, in spite of an undertaking. The judge believed that this was a move to protect the accused.
Calling the ADGP “apparently powerful,” Justice Sandesh also said that another high court judge had spoken to him of similar threats of transfer.
The judge said that he was unafraid of transfers or of losing his post as a judge. The judge also noted that he would record the threats in the order.
“This should not happen. I will record the same in the order itself. You people are encouraging such people. State government as well as…You are here to protect the institution. Not to do all these things…Why should I hesitate?” he said, according to Bar and Bench.
“I don’t fear anyone. I am ready to bell the cat. I have not accumulated property after becoming a judge. I don’t care if I lose the position. I am the son of a farmer. I am ready to till the land. I don’t belong to any political party. I don’t adhere to any political ideology,” he said, according to news agency PTI.
The report says that the judge also asked the Karnataka government why it was “protecting the culprits.”
The judge also questioned the ACB’s lawyer if he was there to protect the interests of “the culprits or the general public.”
He also likened corruption to cancer in society.
“Instead of allowing it to reach the fourth stage, which is not curable, at the first or second stage, it should be cured,” he said.
“The service records of ACB ADGP have not been produced before the court. You have reached a stage of issuing threats to the judge. The whole state is mired in corruption. If Vitamin M is there, you will protect anyone,” the judge said.
Advocate General Prabhuling K. Navdagi assured the court that all the data like details of the number of search warrants obtained, executed, not executed, B report and chargesheets filed, will be placed before the court on the next date of hearing, Deccan Herald has reported.
Background
Justice Sandesh had made some observations against the ACB last week and its functioning while hearing a bail plea of P.S. Mahesh, a deputy Tahsildar in the office of the Bengaluru City Deputy Commissioner.
Two staff members of the office were arrested for receiving a bribe of Rs 5 lakh in exchange for favourable order in a land dispute.
The court had taken objection as to how senior officers were being protected and only junior staff were being prosecuted in the case.
In a related development on Monday, Manjunath J., an IAS officer and former Bengaluru City Deputy Commissioner, was arrested in the same case by ACB.
Justice Sandesh had said the ACB had become a “collection centre” and called the ADGP of the ACB a tainted officer. The court had, on June 29, ordered the ACB to produce details of all cases since 2016 in which the ACB had filed ‘B’ (closure) reports.
Note: Additional details were added to this article after it was published.