3 min readNew DelhiOct 13, 2004 12:00 AM IST
First published on: Oct 13, 2004 at 02:34 AM IST
The Supreme Court collegium’s decision to transfer the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, B K Roy—as reported in The Indian Express today—acquires more irony as it was his bench that delivered a landmark verdict today, fixing accountability on not just the executive but also the judiciary.
In its much-awaited judgment on the PIL against Forest Hill Resorts and Country Club FHR, the bench headed by Justice Roy did not spare even members of the judiciary for taking free membership in that scam-tainted club.
While ordering the demolition of the 381-acre club built near Chandigarh in violation of the forest and other laws, the bench directed the CBI to conduct a ‘‘a thorough probe into the question of accountability’’ of all those who had helped the club build its premises as well as those who had accepted its free membership.
Those who accepted free membership included two of Roy’s colleagues in the High Court, Justices Viney Mittal and Virender Singh. But as the law does not permit the CBI to straightaway book a judge, the bench clarified in its 147-page judgment that the investigation cannot extend to any of ‘‘the members of the judiciary.’’
The CBI would have to obtain the necessary sanction before proceeding against any of the judges. The bench said that if the CBI finds any incriminating material against any judge, ‘‘it shall bring the same to the notice of the competent authority so that appropriate action in the matter can be taken.’’
The judgment does not actually mention the membership of Justices Mittal and Virender Singh as Justice Roy had already issued notices to them in his capacity as the administrative head of the High Court. And it was in protest of those in-house notices that 25 judges of the High Court, in an unprecedented move, went on strike on April 19.
The collegium has since decided to transfer out Justice Roy along with two leaders of the strike, Justices G S Singhvi and V K Bali.
Given the background of the in-house notices and the subsequent strike, today’s judgment fires at the High Court judges over the shoulders of the subordinate judiciary. ‘‘To add to this sad saga is a crude attempt made by Col B S Sandhu club promoter to break into the fortress of the subordinate judiciary by persuading certain officers to accept concessional membership.’’
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