The death of a judge in Jharkhand on Wednesday in what was initially believed to be a hit-and-run has taken a chilling turn with security footage of the incident leading to a murder investigation. As the killing generated shock and rage, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said he had spoken to the Jharkhand High Court and asserted: “We are aware of the case and we will take care.”
The driver of an auto-rickshaw that hit District and Additional Judge Uttam Anand in Dhanbad has been arrested along with an associate, the police say. The Jharkhand High Court has reacted sharply to allegations of a delay in police action.
Bar associations of the Supreme Court, the HC and Dhanbad courts demanded a CBI probe into the case.
CCTV footage that has surfaced online shows the judge jogging at around 5 am by a deserted stretch of road as an auto takes a turn and appears to go straight for him. The auto rams the judge and drives off.
Judge Anand was found lying on the road, bleeding, by a man who took him to hospital. He died in hospital, according to the police. He remained unidentified, however, for hours.
On Thursday, police detained autorickshaw drivers Lakhan Verma and Rahul Verma who, they said, were nabbed with the “stolen auto” that hit the judge. “Lakhan and Rahul have said that they drove the autorickshaw that hit the judge.
However, the motive is not clear yet. The auto was stolen from Jharia on Tuesday night. Both are being questioned and will be arrested and sent to judicial custody,” Bokaro DIG Mayur Patel said.
“Lakhan Verma has previously been booked for theft. There are contradictions in their statements. We are investigating,” he said. Patel is part of the three-member SIT headed by ADG (Operations) Sanjay Anand Latkar and also includes Dhanbad SSP Sanjeev Kumar.
“We are not ruling out the possibility of the killing being related to orders passed by the judge recently. We are tracking the activity of people mentioned in those orders,” officials said.
In the Supreme Court, the matter was raised before a bench of CJI Ramana and Justice Surya Kant by senior advocate Vikas Singh, president of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), who had described the incident earlier as an “attack on judicial independence”.
“I spoke to the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court. He has taken up the case and all officers are asked to be present. Now leave it there. If it’s necessary then we will involve (ourselves),” the CJI told Singh.
Singh sought a CBI probe to find out if the hit-and-run was a “murder” in retaliation for the judge rejecting the “bail applications of gangsters”. The bench asked him not to draw conclusions. “We are aware of it. Let the HC look at it”, the CJI said.
Dhanbad court records show that the 36 orders passed by ASJ Anand in July also cover cases of alleged sexual harassment, sale of fake lottery tickets and the alleged diversion of scholarships meant for minority school students, which was investigated by The Media.
In the six cases in which he granted bail, the period of custody was the main ground. In the remaining cases, he rejected the pleas for regular and anticipatory bail, citing the nature of the crime.
