Govt cannot let third pillar of democracy come to halt: SC

NEW DELHI: Citing massive vacancies of judges across the high courts in the country, the Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the Centre for bringing the “third pillar of democracy to a standstill” by not appointing judges and said the government’s administration will also come to a standstill if this attitude continues.

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is yet to ascertain if there was any foul play in the death of additional district and sessions judge Uttam Anand, who was fatally knocked down by a vehicle on July 28 in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad.

The Supreme Court on Monday noted that the investigating agency has not made any progress on the reason or motive behind the hit-and-run incident that claimed Anand’s life.

“There is nothing in your sealed cover. We want something concrete. Arrest and seizing of vehicles were done by the state. You (CBI) have not indicated anything about intention or motive or any reason,” a bench, headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana told solicitor general Tushar Mehta.

Mehta was representing the CBI in the public interest litigation registered by the court on its own over the death of the judicial officer in suspicious circumstances.

The S-G replied that the interrogation of the two arrested persons was on and that any disclosure about the ongoing investigation may impact the probe.

At this, the bench, which also included justices Vineet Saran and Surya Kant, said that the agency should submit weekly status reports before the Jharkhand high court that will henceforth monitor the CBI’S investigation.

“We will keep the matter pending here and we will request the chief justice of the high court to examine your reports. Let the high court monitor your progress on a weekly basis,” it told the S-G.

The court then recorded in its order: “Taking into account the gravity of the matter, we deem it appropriate to direct the CBI to file a report before the high court of Jharkhand every week and we further request the chief justice of the high court to monitor the investigation.”

Apart from the specific instance of Dhanbad’s judge, the top court underlined that registration of the suo motu (on its own motion) case intends to resolve the alarming situation in the country where judicial officers and lawyers are being pressurised and intimidated by threats of violence or actual violence.