Apex court notice to judge over provident fund scam trial

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Wednesday issued notice to the Ghaziabad district judge for allegedly interfering with the proceedings of a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the multi-crore rupee provident fund scam.

The court said that if the allegations in the affidavit filed by the CBI were correct then the conduct of District Judge Vishnu Chandra Gupta amounted to contempt of court.

The court also issued notice to all the 70 accused in the scam on the CBI application seeking the transfer of trial from the Ghaziabad court to a CBI court in Delhi.

The special CBI court in Ghaziabad is conducting trial in the scam on the direction of the apex court and any interference in the discharge of justice will amount to contempt of court, said a bench of Justice D.K. Jain, Justice V.S. Sirpurkar and Justice G.S. Singhvi.

Attorney General of India Goolam Vahanvati during the hearing of the matter July 28 told the Court that the Ghaziabad district judge was interfering in the trial. He offered to file an affidavit to support his plea.

The affidavit said that July 26, the district judge called the senior public prosecutor (SPP), CBI, to his chamber where the district government counsel (DGC) was already sitting.

The district judge asked the DGC to take back the CDs pertaining to the case that were given to the CBI by the local police.

However, the SPP told the judge that the matter was being handled by the CBI and the state police had no role to play.

On this, the district judge told the DGC to implead themselves in the case as Uttar Pradesh police had filed the main chargesheet and investigated the matter along with the CBI.

The affidavit said that there were 25 group ‘C’ and ‘D’ employees of Ghaziabad district courts who were crucial witnesses in the case and there was every likelihood that these witnesses being influenced during the course of the trial.

The apex court was earlier told that out of the 41 judges and judicial officers who were under the scanner of the investigation agency, there was no material evidence against 17 judges and judicial officers.

In respect of the remaining 24 judges and judicial officers there was not enough evidence to prosecute them.

The CBI said that its report has been sent to the competent authorities to initiate appropriate action against them for their various acts of omission and commission.