TMI Blog2006 (8) TMI 606X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion. In an earlier petition filed before this Court on 19.3.1996, this Court directed that the investigation shall be monitored by the Division Bench of the Patna High Court and in that Order, it was indicated that the CBI Officers entrusted with the investigation shall inform the Chief Justice of Patna High Court from time to time of the progress made in the investigation and if they needed any directions in the matter of conducting the investigation, obtain them from him and it was also said that the learned Chief Justice may either post the matter for directions before a Bench presided over by him or constitute any other appropriate Bench. It was also directed that the State Government shall co-operate in assigning adequate number of Special judges to deal with the cases expeditiously so that no evidence may be lost. The petitioners allege that consequent upon change of the Government in the Centre, attempts have been made to delay and interfere with the judicial process. It is alleged that the public prosecutors who were handling the cases were removed and to protect the interests of respondent nos. 4 and 5, convenient prosecutor was appointed. The respondent no. 5 is an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itrarily and interfering in the judicial process to benefit the respondent nos. 4 and 5. The petitioners have alleged that respondent nos. 4 and 5 obtained stay of proceedings of the case pending before the Special Judge from this Court suppressing some material facts. It is alleged that the respondent nos. 4 and 5 still wield influence and power and, therefore, this Court should monitor the trial of the case pending before the Special Judge, CBI, at Patna. In these Writ Petitions, the petitioners have prayed mainly four reliefs. The first relief prayed is to issue an appropriate writ, order or direction monitoring the conduct of the trials relating to fodder scam cases proceedings against respondent nos. 4 and 5 in the States of Bihar State of Jharkhand. The second prayer is to appoint the very same prosecutor who had been conducting prosecution earlier and to direct the High Court to see that no prosecutor or CBI Officer attached with the investigation and trial of the case should be removed, harassed or victimized for discharging their duties. The petitioners have also prayed that at least one inspector be provided for each fodder case. The petitioners have also prayed for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ive to satisfy their personal grudge and that this is an abuse of the process of the Court. The respondents have alleged that the Public Interest Litigation shall not be used for private or political motives or for other consideration. It is also alleged that Special Case no. 5/98 pending before the Special Judge is a case registered under Sections 13(2) and 13(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and it has nothing to do with the 'fodder scam' case. The various allegations made in the Writ Petitions have been denied specifically. We heard the learned Senior Counsel Shri Mukul Rohtagi for the petitioner and Solicitor General appearing for respondents 1 to 3 and also the learned counsel for respondent nos. 4 and 5. At the time of the arguments, the learned Counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners in the present facts and circumstances of the case only pray for appointment of an appropriate prosecutor to conduct the case pending before the Special Judge and that the bail of the respondent nos. 4 and 5 be cancelled and Respondent no. 3 be directed to file appeals against the orders passed by the ITAT. The petitioners also submitted arguments to the effec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... i had left India without permission and a show-cause notice was issued to him. He filed an explanation and came over to Delhi to personally explain the things and he was allowed to remain at Delhi for some period and the President of the ITAT, with a view to inculcate judicial discipline, decorum and proper behaviour from the Bench, made Shri Tyagi to sit in Delhi Bench of the ITAT alongwith the seniormost Accountant Member. There were also other circumstances whereby Shri. Tyagi wanted his transfer from Patna to avoid recurrence of another incident in view of the repeated confrontations with the Bar. It was under these circumstances Shri Mohanarajan was directed to camp at Patna in June, 2004. Another member Shri Aggarwal also expressed his inability to camp at Patna. Shri P. Mohanarajan alongwith Shri M.K. Sarkar who was a senior member of the Tribunal, dealt with the cases of respondent nos. 4 and 5. The President has also refuted an allegation that Shri Sarkar was selected to camp at Delhi only for a short period to dispose of this case. He has brought to our notice that the Bench disposed of 11 appeals of respondent no. 5 and several other cases and that 136 cases were dispose ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ere taken at the behest of respondent nos. 4 and 5 or any undue influence was exerted to take such decisions. The allegations made by the petitioners are vague and indefinite. Therefore, the prayer for Writ of Mandamus to direct the respondent nos. 1 to 3 to file an appeal against the ITAT orders cannot be allowed and is liable to be rejected. The next prayer of the petitioners is that the Special Judge who is dealing with the CBI cases at Patna was not properly appointed by the High Court of Patna and another Judge who was dealing with this case was suddenly transferred to help respondent nos. 4 and 5. It may be noticed, at the outset, that no such allegations have been made in the original Writ Petition. The petitioners filed IA as Criminal Miscellaneous Petition nos. 6589-6590 of 2005 wherein certain allegations have been made. Subsequent to this filing of these interim petitions, the original writ petition was not amended and no prayer was incorporated in the relief portion as to whether the present Special Judge is to be removed or not. In the interlocutory application as Criminal Miscellaneous Petition nos. 6589-6590 of 2005, the petitioners alleged that taking undue advan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dge for C.B.I.(Fodder Scam Cases) at Patna. It is further resolved upon consideration of the relevant service records of the officers concerned that Shri J.P. Ratnesh, Additional District Judge, Patna, be posted as Special Judge, C.B.I. (South Bihar) and Sri Ram Niwas Prasad, Additional District Judge, Patna, as Special Judge for Vigilance Case (Court No. 1). In view of the urgency of the matter, the officer Is directed to take necessary steps for issue of notification immediately. Though the petitioners have not made any allegations in the Writ Petitions, at the time of argument, the learned Senior Counsel stated that Shri Muni Lal Paswan was having poor record and he was not senior to be appointed as a Special Judge. We have perused the Confidential Register of Shri Muni Lal Paswan which was made available to us. Of course, the Confidential Register of this Officer was available only upto 2003. For some period, he was working on deputation and the inspecting judge had not recorded the confidential registers for that period, though the confidential registers of other officers were available to the Standing Committee. The Confidential Reports of Shri Muni Lal Paswan from ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and some other public prosecutor was appointed. Refuting all these allegations, a counter- affidavit was filed on behalf of respondent no. 2 CBI. In the counter- affidavit, it is stated that disproportionate assets case against respondent nos. 4 and 5 was being conducted by Shri L.R. Ansari, right from the beginning. He had examined 132 witnesses from the prosecution and the defence had also examined 93 witnesses. Arguments on behalf of the petitioners were completed on 14.7.2004 and the arguments on behalf of the defence started on 19.7.2004 and as the case was practically over, it was decided to avail Shri Ansari's service in other Animal Husbandary cases. It is also stated that if found necessary, Mr. Ansari would be called to give any reply at the end of the case. As regards Shri Oma Shankar Sharma, it is submitted that he had started his practice as an Advocate on 23.2.1968 and he was appointed as a Prosecutor in 2.1.1973 in Delhi and conducted several cases before criminal courts in New Delhi. He was promoted as Senior-cum-Additional Public Prosecutor on 16.10.1992 and conducted several important cases including TADA cases. He was appointed as a Legal Adviser to the Commi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ies of irregularities, but they are not supported by basic facts having solid foundation. This Court in Janata Dal Vs. H.S. Chaudhary and Others 1992 (4) SCC 305 held that in a criminal case, a person who has no interest shall not invoke the jurisdiction of the Court by intervening in the proceedings and a person acting bona fide and having sufficient interest in the proceeding alone has locus standi to file a public interest litigation and a person for personal gain or private profit or political motive, or any oblique consideration has no such right to file public interest litigation. The respondent nos. 4 and 5 relied on Ashok Kumar Pandey Vs. State of W.B. 2004 (3) SCC 349. That is a case where petition was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution purportedly in public interest but the prayer was to the effect that the death sentence imposed on one 'D' by the Sessions Court, affirmed by the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court, needed to be converted to a life sentence because there had been no execution of the death sentence for a long time. Therein, this Court said that a person acting bona fide and having sufficient interest in the proceeding alone can i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... In the petition, there was no allegation against the present Judicial Officer warranting his removal from the post. The petitioners prayed for a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondent nos. 1 to 3 to file appeal against the orders passed by the ITAT. The petitioners have not made out any case for issuing any such Writ of Mandamus. The respondent nos. 1 to 3, after following the due procedure, have decided not to file an appeal against the order passed by ITAT and we do not find any reason to give any direction to file appeal. The last prayer of the petitioners is that the bail granted to respondent nos. 4 and 5 is liable to be set aside. The petitioners could not prove anything that these respondents have interfered in the course of justice and they misused the privilege of bail extended to them. The petitioners have also no case that they are likely to flee from justice. The petitioners have not made out any case for cancellation of their bail. The prayers sought for in the Writ Petitions cannot be allowed and the Writ Petitions being without any merits are liable to be and dismissed accordingly. All interim orders passed in the Writ Petitions are vacated. - - TaxTM ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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