No action against judge involved in medical scam despite CJI recommendation

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 04, 2018 : The judge at the centre of the medical scam which led to the near-impeachment of Justice Deepak Misra was to have been removed as a judge of Allahabad High Court. This as per a recommendation of a three-member committee set up by the CJI to probe allegations of misconduct against Justice Narayan Shukla.

 

The government has chosen for the past five months to sit on the CJI’s recommendation made in February.

In fact, Minister of State for Law and Justice PP Chaudhary admitted in Parliament in response to an unstarred question from Shashi Tharoor that a "communication has been received from the Chief Justice".

Tharoor had specifically asked whether the government had received a letter from the Chief Justice of India on the need to remove justice Narayan Shukla of Allahabad High Court based on the findings of the in-house committee which indicted him of gross misconduct and if so, the details thereof".

Tharoor had also asked whether the government had taken any steps to facilitate the removal of the said judge.

While no answer was forthcoming as to what action was taken to remove Shukla, the government instead informed Tharoor that a communication had also been received from Justice Shukla.

Tharoor said, "The idea was to use this question to as a wedge to prise open the closed door of the government. the CJI said that action should be taken so why was no action initiated."

Shukla had allegedly questioned the findings of the three-member committee comprising the Chief Justices of Madras, Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh High Courts. The committee had allegedly passed adverse remarks against the conduct of the judge following which he was derostered by the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High court on the recommendation of Dipak Mishra.

The CJI had then sent the report to the office of the President to initiate impeachment proceedings.

However, the President’s office also received a representation in April from Justice Shukla. The letter has since been forwarded to law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Shukla was the judge that had given a favourable order to Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow. The owners of the college had withdrawn their petition from the Supreme Court where it was being heard by a Bench of the Chief Justice. While Mishra had allowed the petitioners to withdraw their appeal for admission of students to the MBBS course for 2017-18, the order had come with a rider. No court would allow admissions for that year for this college.

The petitioners, in violation of the SC order, managed a favourable verdict from a double Bench headed by Justice Shukla. Interestingly, in the order, the judge also allowed counselling of the students.

The order was dated August 31, 2017, which was the last date for admissions to the college. When this was pointed out to the judge the next day, he, in violation, of all norms, made a change by hand allowing counselling up to September 4 and signed off.

It was these two major violations that the committee had probed. Interestingly, the CBI that was probing the medical scam allegedly has enough incriminating evidence to nail the judge and several others.


courtesy: Yahoo