Sting traps J&K addl AG, judge father says book him

It is a case in which the head of the panel probing official corruption finds his son accepting bribes in a sting videotape and, refreshingl...

It is a case in which the head of the panel probing official corruption finds his son accepting bribes in a sting videotape and, refreshingly, decides duty comes before family.

The controversy revolves around Anil Sethi, additional advocate general of Jammu and Kashmir and son of Accountability Commission chairman Justice (retd) R P Sethi.

Anil has been accused of demanding Rs 20 lakh from contractor Mushtaq Ahmed Ganai, who is being investigated by the commission in a multi-crore rupee rural electrification scam.

In a sting operation, Ganai videotaped Anil accepting the money, allegedly to influence his case before his father’s panel. Ganai then filed a PIL in the J&K High Court and submitted a CD showing the clandestine transaction. He charged the Accountability Commission with implicating him in a false case. Reacting swiftly, Justice Sethi said: ‘‘I have decided to take such action which no father might have taken in living memory in the interest of the institution of the Commission and the struggle waged to eliminate the corruption,’’ he said while ordering the registration of a criminal case against Anil. Justice Sethi also directed the DGP to register criminal cases. Anil has been relieved of his job.