SC to examine if FIRs could be lodged against ex-judges

The bench posted the matter for further hearing till next Wednesday to enable senior counsels Anil Divan and Shanti Bhushan to give their views on the issue, for passing an appropriate order.

The bench took the decision after hearing a two-hour argument of senior counsel Anil Divan, representing the petitioner, which saw the court ask several queries and make observations.

“It is not material for us as to who is involved,” the bench observed when Divan started his submission saying that he would restrict his arguments to the minimum “decibels” as some judges are also allegedly involved in the racket.

The Ghaziabad Bar Association and two other NGOs had filed petitions seeking either a judicial or a CBI probe into the rackets in which several crores of rupees belonging to Class IV employees had allegedly been pocketed by vested interests, including judges.

However, the bench was not convinced with the arguments of the petitioners that only a CBI probe or investigations by a retired police officer could bring to light the entire gamut of the scandal.