New Delhi, August 6: The Supreme Court on Friday termed “serious” the incidents of judges being threatened and asked the states to file status reports on the security they are providing to the judicial officers.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant also issued notice to the CBI. The remarks came while the bench was considering the suo motu case taken by it on the issue of protection of judges and courts in the wake of the killing of Additional District Judge Uttam Anand of Dhanbad last week.
The apex court was informed by the counsel appearing for Jharkhand that the probe into the July 28 incident has been handed over to the CBI.
CJI Ramana told Attorney General for India KK Venugopal, whose assistance was sought by the Court when the suo motu case was taken, that judges are not just being attacked physically but also mentally by sending intimidating messages in Whatsapp, circulating posts in social media etc.
“In one or two places, courts ordered CBI inquiry. It is sad to say that CBI has done nothing. We expected some change in CBI attitude. But there has been no change. We are sorry to observe that”, CJI told the Attorney General.
The CJI also said that there was a “new trend” of maligning judges if an adverse order was passed.
“It is a new trend in this country. If an adverse order is passed, then judiciary is maligned. Even though judges complaint, there is no response.
CBI, IB etc aren’t helping judiciary at all”, the CJI added. The CJI told the AG that he was making these comments with “full sense of responsibility”.
“There is no freedom to the judges to even file a complaint,” the bench said, adding that police or the CBI is not helping the judiciary if such complaints are filed.
“We will hear the Jharkhand matter on Monday (August 9). We are issuing notice to the CBI,” the bench said.
In wake of the Dhanbad incident, the top court has taken suo motu cognizance on the issue of safeguarding courts and protecting judges.
Uttam Anand was out on a morning walk on Wednesday last when he was killed by an auto-rickshaw at Randhir Verma Chowk near the district court in the Sadar police station area, stepping up investigations into his death that has led to a nationwide outrage among the legal fraternity which believes he was murdered.
Anand had been handling several cases of mafia killings in Dhanbad city. He had denied bail to Ravi Thakur and Anand Verma, suspected shooters who have been linked to alleged Uttar Pradesh gangsters Abhinav Singh and Aman Singh.
