Evidence of failure of in-house procedure for investigating charges against sitting judges

Justice Hemant Gupta

By Prashant Bhushan*
On 03.03.2017, the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) sent a serious complaint against the then Acting Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, namely Justice Hemant Gupta, containing evidence of several charges of money laundering, acquiring several properties by illegal means, possessing disproportionate assets, and seeking to influence officer of the ED who was investigating these charges and had submitted a scathing report.
In pursuance of a resolution adopted in a Chief Justices conference 1997, it had been decided that an in-house procedure for investigating charges against sitting judges would be devised, in which the Chief Justice of India would constitute a committee of two Chief Justices of the High Court, and another High Court judge.

However, despite there being considerable evidence for the aforementioned charges, and the existence of a taped conversation between the Justice Hemant Gupta and the ED officer in which he asked the ED officer to come and meet him to resolve the matter and thus, tried to influence him, no such in-house enquiry appears to have been set up, despite a further reminder dated 27.03.2017 sent to the Chief Justice of India.

Also no communication whatsoever has been received by the CJAR from the Chief Justice of India as to what has been done to the complaint and why no in-house enquiry was set up to enquire into the charges.
On the other hand, we find that Justice Hemant Gupta has been promoted as the regular Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court without any enquiry into the charges. It is learnt that the government of India was also seriously interested in the promotion of Justice Hemant Gupta who comes from an influential RSS background.
The failure of the Chief Justice of India to constitute an in-house enquiry against Justice Hemant Gupta shows the futility of this in-house procedure. It also shows that often Chief Justices’ act on subjective considerations and on the basis of his own personal equations with the judge concerned.

This underlines the need for putting in place a permanent full time commission, which is independent of the government and the judiciary, for investigating complaints against judges and taking action against erring judges. The need for such a Commission has also been underlined recently by Justices Chelameshwar and Gogoi, in their separate judgment in Justice Karnan’s case.
Unfortunately, in the absence of such an independent mechanism, the only available resort is impeachment which is a political process, but needs to be resorted to in some extreme cases. The CJAR feels that the case of Justice Hemant Gupta is a fit case for commencement of impeachment proceedings and we urge leaders of all political parties to come together to initiate this process to protect the integrity of the judiciary.
A copy of the complaint dated 03.03.2017 along with annexures is enclosed. The last Annexure L is the note recorded by the Assistant Director of ED, PMLA regarding the attempt made by Justice Hemant Gupta to influence him.

---
Convenor, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms

Comments

'Violation of Apex Court order': Delhi authorities blamed for dog-bite incidents at JLN Stadium

By A Representative People for Animals (PFA), led by Ms. Ambika Shukla, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the recent dog-bite incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, accusing it of violating Supreme Court directions regarding community dogs. The organisation’s on-ground fact-finding mission met stadium authorities and the two affected coaches to verify details surrounding the incidents, both of which occurred on October 3.

A revdi-funded dream? Tax breaks, hype, unease: PwC reveals GIFT City’s fragile foundations

By Rajiv Shah Backed by generous subsidies (or so-called "revdis") channeled to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship project, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report claims it is “uniquely positioned to connect India to international markets and foster next-generation FinTech and IT innovation.”

Bihar’s land at ₹1 per acre for Adani sparks outrage, NAPM calls it crony capitalism

By A Representative The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has strongly condemned the Bihar government’s decision to lease 1,050 acres of land in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur district, to Adani Power for a 2,400 MW coal-based thermal power project.

Adani Power controversy, legacy of pollution and broken dreams in Bihar

By Kumar Krishnan* The decision to lease 1,050 acres of land in the Pirpainty region of Bhagalpur district to Adani Power for 33 years at a mere ₹1 per acre annual rent has become a major political issue in Bihar. Congress President Rajesh Ram, Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, Legislature Party Leader Dr. Shakeel Ahmad Khan, and Legislative Council Leader Dr. Madan Mohan Jha have already marched from Sadakat Ashram to Rajendra Babu's samadhi in Patna over this issue. Pawan Khera and Kanhaiya Kumar are vocally opposing it. Additionally, allied parties of the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) are also protesting. The Congress party even held a march in Patna on this matter.

‘I Love Muhammad’ and the new pretexts for communal violence in India

By Ram Puniyani Communal violence is a curse in Indian politics. It has been around for over a century. Most scholars of this phenomenon believe that it is usually orchestrated deliberately. After such violence, conditions for communal polarization arise. Scholars also argue that “the religious polarization resulting from riots benefits political parties that engage in identity-based politics, while harming the Congress.”

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Counterview

Search This Blog