Supreme Court seeks probe report on judge’s death

NEW DELHI: Emphasising that it is the State’s obligation to protect judges to ensure they can discharge their duties fearlessly, the Supreme Court on Friday registered on its own a public interest litigation over the death of an additional district and sessions judge in Jharkhand, who was fatally knocked down by a vehicle on Wednesday morning.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana took suo motu (on its own motion) cognisance of the death of judicial officer Uttam Anand, and sought explanations from Jharkhand’s chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) within a week.

Registering the suo motu case as ‘In Re: Safeguarding Courts and Protecting Judges (Death of Additional Sessions Judge, Dhanbad)’, the court termed the incident “unfortunate”, adding: “This gruesome incident has been widely reported in newspapers, and video clippings of the incident are also being circulated on social media platforms, suggesting that it was not a case of simplicitor road accident.” The court said in its order: “Having regard to the seriousness of the issue and its larger ramifications, we direct the chief secretary and director general of police, state of Jharkhand to jointly submit a status report of inquiry vis-a-vis the sad demise of the judicial officer, Shri Uttam Anand, with the registry of this court within a week’s time.” The bench added it was aware of the suo motu proceedings already initiated by the Jharkhand high court a day ago into the incident and clarified that the high court should continue monitoring the matter there. “However, we want to be appraised of the status of investigation,” added the bench, which also sought appearance of Jharkhand’s advocate general before it on August 6 when the matter will be heard next. The court has further requested attorney general KK Venugopal to assist it on the next date.

In addition to the incident in Jharkhand, the court said, it was concerned with the larger issues pertaining to safety and security of judicial officers.

“It has been brought to the notice of this court that similar incidents are happening across the country. Taking into consideration the duty and obligation of the State to create an environment and accord full protection to judicial officers as well as the legal fraternity so that they can perform their duties fearlessly, we deem it appropriate to take up this matter suo motu,” said the bench, which also included justice Surya Kant.

Sessions judge Uttam Anand