New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana came down heavily on CBI and IB for not doing anything when it comes to the safety of judges despite various attacks being reported on them and complaints being registered. CJI said that he realises the seriousness of the statements made but it is true.
The bench also comprising of Justice Surya Kant was hearing a suo moto case on the safety of judicial officers taken in the wake of the killing of Dhanbad Additional District Judge (धनबाद जज) Uttam Anand (उत्तम आनंद) for denying bail to a gangster.
The court said that it has become a new trend to threaten judges, harass them not only physically but mentally by sending abusive messages if it's a high profile case and the order is not in their favour. And states have done nothing to protect them, some security should be provided near the residence, judges are being attacked inside and outside the court.
Read:| Dhanbad Judge death case: CBI begins investigation
Attorney General KK Venugopal said that he has newspaper cuttings of periodic attacks on judges. "Look at this unfortunate case of death of a young judge. This is the state's failure. The area has coal mafias and security should have been provided to the society and residences of judges," said CJI.
Jharkhand's AG told the court that additional security and boundary walls are there. "Hardened criminals can not be contained with boundary walls," said Justice Kant. Jharkhand informed the court that SIT of 22 members has apprehended an auto driver on the same day, taken in remand and is being interrogated.
The state has decided to hand over the case to the CBI and CBI has taken the case on Thursday.
Read:| Dhanbad judge death: Police arrest auto driver, matter raised in SC
"So you have washed your hands off," remarked the CJI to which Jharkhand said that it has taken collected evidence. The court ordered all the states to file status reports and listed the matter for hearing again on 17 August.
The Additional District Judge Uttam Anand was taking a morning jog when he was hit by an auto-rickshaw and left to die on July 28. Notably, Anand was hearing the famous murder case of coal mafia Ranjay Singh who was a close aide of Sanjeev Singh, former MLA of Jharia.
According to reports, Anand had recently rejected the bail plea of shooter Abhinav Singh and Ravi Thakur, the two accused in the case. Following this, police are speculating the incident as a murder and a probe has been launched in this direction.
Justice Uttam Anand was appointed as Dhanbad District and Sessions Judge six months back. He was earlier the District and Sessions Judge of Bokaro.
Read:| Dhanbad judge dies in road accident, police suspect murder
