Tag: uttam anand judge

Jharkhand HC Expresses Displeasure at Pace of CBI Probe Into Dhanbad Judge’s Death

A division bench of Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad said it appeared that the driver of the heavy autorickshaw had intentionally hit Uttam Anand.

New Delhi: The Jharkhand high court on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction over the Central Bureau of Investigation’s slow progress in the probe into the death of Dhanbad judge Uttam Anand.

A division bench of Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad said it appeared that the driver of the heavy autorickshaw had intentionally hit the judge, and asked the central probe agency whether it had interrogated the bike rider who passed by the judge and then left the spot.

The judge’s death had shocked the Supreme Court, with Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana later saying that central agencies are not ‘helping the judiciary at all’, while hearing a suo motu case about providing protection to judges.

Referring to Anand’s death, the CJI said, “Look at the unfortunate case of the death of a young judge. It’s the state’s failure. This area has coal mafias and security should have been provided to the society and residences of judges.”

After the additional district judge was killed early on July 28, grim CCTV footage showed Anand jogging on one side of a fairly wide road at Randhir Verma Chowk. A vehicle veered towards him, hit him from behind and sped away. This raised suspicions that the killing was intentional and not a case of hit-and-run.

Some locals found Anand lying in a pool of blood and took him to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

The Jharkhand high court, expressing displeasure over the progress in the investigation, ordered the CBI to furnish a status report of the investigation so far in the case. The court will hear the matter again after a week.

During the hearing, the bench said that the report shows that the auto driver has deliberately hit the judge. “This did not happen suddenly because of intoxication,” the bench said.

The court asked the CBI whether it has questioned the bike rider who passed by the judge after he was hit by the auto and left the spot. The investigating officer of the CBI said that the man was interrogated and released. He claimed to have high blood pressure and told the agency that the sight of blood makes him nervous.

To this, the court asked whether the CBI has examined the documents regarding the man’s medical history. The bench directed CBI to conduct a thorough investigation of the bike rider saying it is necessary as he works in a colliery.

Both the Supreme Court and the high court of Jharkhand had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident.

The Central Bureau of Investigation took over the case on August 4. Five days after that, the apex court directed the central probe agency to file weekly reports to the high court on the progress of the investigation.

During the hearing, the Jharkhand high court also expressed unhappiness over the lack of appointments in the Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) in the state capital. The bench said the Jharkhand Public Services Commission (JPSC) ought to have taken steps to ensure appointments in the FSL.

“Lack of appointments in the FSL has rendered it non-functional,” the bench said.

The court said that posts have been created since 2011 but they are lying vacant for about a decade.

The counsel for the JPSC informed the court that steps are being taken to make appointments in the FSL.

(With PTI inputs)

Jharkhand Judge Death: Police Detain 243 Suspects, Arrest 17

Two police officers were also suspended, including one for making the CCTV footage of the incident public.

Dhanbad/Ranchi: Police detained 243 suspects and arrested 17 persons in connection with the death of judge Uttam Anand in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district, besides seizing 250 auto-rickshaws, a senior official said on Monday.

Two police officers were also suspended, including one for making the CCTV footage of the incident public, he said.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sanjiv Kumar said that 243 persons were taken into custody after raids in different police station areas of the district on Sunday evening.

They are being interrogated, he added.

“Police have also searched 53 hotels of the district and arrested 17 persons in connection with the incident. FIRs have been lodged against them in different police stations,” he said.

Though the police recovered the autorickshaw that hit the judge when he was out on morning walk, in a special drive, 250 autorickshaws that had documents irregularities were seized, the officer said.

There are about 16,000 autorickshaws registered with the Transport Department in Dhanbad, sources said.

Sub Inspector Adarsh Kumar was suspended for making the CCTV footage public, Kumar said.

Pathardih police station’s officer-in-charge Umesh Manjhi was suspended on Saturday for lodging FIR about an autorickshaw theft two days after the accident, he said.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday decided to hand over the probe to the CBI.

The Jharkhand government had set up a Special Investigation Team to crack the judge’s death case, which triggered a nationwide outrage.

The leaked CCTV footage showed that the judge was jogging on one side of a fairly wide road at Randhir Verma Chowk on Wednesday morning when an auto-rickshaw veered towards him, hit him from behind and fled the scene.

The police had on Thursday arrested two persons, auto-rickshaw driver Lakhan Verma and his helper Rahul Verma, in connection with the case.

(PTI)

Dhanbad: Judge Killed in Hit and Run Incident, SIT to Investigate Death

The issue was brought up in the Supreme Court on Thursday morning by senior advocate Vikas Singh, who is president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

New Delhi: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the death of additional sessions and district judge Uttam Anand in Dhanbad, after CCTV footage showed that an auto swerved sharply and hit him while he was on his morning jog.

According to Hindustan Times, the hit-and-run incident took place a little after 5 am on Wednesday. Though bystanders rushed Judge Anand to a medical college, doctors declared him dead on arrival. The body was not identified for a while, according to reports.

Meanwhile, the judge’s family notified the police when he did not return home by 7 am. The judge’s driver accompanied the police team to the hospital, after they were informed of a road accident, and identified the body at.

The Supreme Court has taken note of the judge’s death.

“I have constituted an SIT led by the city SP who will look into all possible reasons. The CCTV footage and all related aspects would be analysed and identify the vehicle. We have respected the victim’s family members to file a complaint and we will register an FIR,” said Dhanbad senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sanjeev Kumar, according to Hindustan Times.

According to The Telegraph, the judge had recently rejected the bail petitions of two members of a gang based in Uttar Pradesh, who are accused in a high-profile murder case. However, the police said it is too soon to establish any connections between the bail hearing and the ostensible ‘accident’.

Prabhat Sinha, a lawyer at the Jharkhand high court told the Indian Express that the ‘accident’ is a clear case of murder. “The CCTV footage clearly shows that the auto driver intentionally hitting the judge,” he said.

The issue was brought up in the Supreme Court on Thursday morning by senior advocate Vikas Singh, who is president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, according to LiveLaw, who called it a ‘brazen attack on the judiciary’.

While the issue was first mentioned before a bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, it was later mentioned before the Chief Justice of India’s bench. CJI N.V. Ramana said that he had spoken to the Jharkhand high court’s chief justice, who will take up the case.

“Now he’s [Jharkhand HC chief justice] directed officers to be in court and matter is going on there. Leave it there. If it’s necessary then we will involve, but if we involve at this stage unnecessarily,” CJI Ramana said, according to LiveLaw.

Singh claimed that the footage showing the judge being hit was not from a CCTV camera, but that it was shot by a videocamera.

After the matter was mentioned before the CJI, Singh appeared before the Justice Chandrachud-led bench to argue another case that was listed for hearing.

Justice M.R. Shah, who was part of the bench headed by Justice Chandrachud, asked Singh why video of the incident was shot, as it could be used as evidence.

Singh said persons involved in this wanted to terrorise people by shooting the video.

“This is tyranny. This was brazen and they wanted to terrorise people. The video is not shot from any CCTV cameras but from a video camera as people can be heard talking and it was even zoomed in several times,” he said.

When Justice Shah said what could be the reason behind the incident, Singh said the judicial officer had passed unpleasant bail order against some gangster.

“Anyway, I have mentioned this before the CJI, who said that he has talked to the chief justice of the Jharkhand high court. The chief justice of the high court is taking up the matter on the judicial side,” Singh said.

(With PTI inputs)