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A judge also finds the slow pace of justice killing - Clean Chit In The Rs 23 Cr PF Scam 10 Months Ago, But District Judge Yet To Be Reinstated :-
It is common knowledge that the Indian justice delivery system exhausts litigants. But, here is a shocker: A District Judge has been the victim of the snailpaced judiciary for the past 10 months. In April last year, CBI and the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to Kanpur District Judge (DJ) Subhash Chander in the Rs 23 crore PF scam. Despite proving his innocence , the senior DJ continues to be under suspension. Now, he is hoping against hope for reinstatement prior to his retirement in March this year.
When the PF scam allegedly involving judges from all three tiers of the judiciary first broke out nearly two years ago, Chander was put under suspension by the Allahabad High Court as his name figured in the list of judges who had some role to play in the illegal withdrawal of provident fund monies of class III and IV employees of the Ghaziabad District Court.
When his repeated pleas of innocence fell on deaf ears, he moved the Supreme Court. Chander made an emotional plea for a speedy conclusion of the probe against him, saying the PF scam had cast an unnecessary shadow on his 33 years of unblemished judicial track-record and jeopardised his chance for elevation as a judge of the HC.
On the SCs direction and after a thorough scrutiny of Chanders role in the scam, the CBI submitted a report to the apex court hinting that the key accused in the case then treasury officer Ashutosh Asthana could have sung more than what he knew in the PF scam. The agency gave a clean chit to the DJ saying that the allegations against him were baseless.
In the light of CBIs report, the SC on April 5, 2009, accepted the agencys report which, after verifying all the allegations, had found no incriminating evidence to link him to the scam. The clean chit from the premier agency and then the SC restored the dented honour of the DJ. Yet, even after 10 months, the suspension order of the Allahabad HC is still in operation. HC sources told TOI that a decision on Chanders fate could be taken only by a Full Bench of the High Court. It was apparent that though the decision of the SC was conveyed to the HC, the latter had not found time to discuss the matter, little realising that the delay was severely hurting an innocent District Judges reputation and service.
Asthana, the former treasurey officer in the Ghaziabad District Court who died in mysterious circumstances inside Dasna Jail on October 17 last year, had allegedly confessed that he used to illegally withdraw money from PF accounts in tacit approval of the District Judges.
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(SOURCE ; TOI)
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