CJAR hands over complaint in medical college bribery case

New Delhi: A body comprising activists from various fields said it has handed over a complaint against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra to the five senior most Supreme Court judges over alleged misconduct in connection with the medical college bribery case.

The Convenor of Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), which held a press conference, repeated all the allegations it had raised in its PIL in the case that was dismissed by the Supreme Court with an exemplary cost of Rs 25 lakh.

The petition was dismissed on December 1 last year.

However, in the presser held by advocate Prashant Bhushan and Anjali Bharadwaj, convenor and member of executive committee of CJAR respectively, they once again raked up the medical college scam in which it was alleged that bribes were paid in the name of judges.

The apex court had dismissed the plea of CJAR for Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the bribery case in which the CBI filed an FIR against ex-judge of Orissa high court I M Quddusi.

Quddusi and a few others were arrested in the case by the CBI and later granted bail by a court. The medical college bribery case related to Prasad Education Trust.

Referring to the in-house procedure to deal with the complaints against judges of the apex court and high courts, Bhushan said they have to be sent to the CJI but no procedure has been laid down for enquiring into a complaint against the head of the judiciary.

The complaint was sent to the four judges who have mounted a virtual revolt against the CJI. It was also sent to Arjan Kumar Sikri. The four dissenting judges were Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Bhimarao Lokur and Kurian Joseph.

Bhushan alleged that from the recorded conversation of the accused, including Qudussi, it was clear that there was a serious conspiracy of bribe in the medical college scam case.

However, he clarified that he was not alleging that the CJI was involved in the conspiracy and said that a thorough investigation was required in it.

While dismissing the petition of CJAR, the three-judge bench of Justices R K Agrawal, Arun Mishra and A M Khanwilkar had said "the petition is not only wholly frivolous, but contemptuous, unwarranted, aims at scandalising the highest judicial system of the country, without any reasonable basis and filed in an irresponsible manner, that too by a body of persons professing to espouse the cause of accountability.

"What an irony of fate, the petitioner has itself forgotten its accountability and filing of such petition may entail in ultimate debarment of such petitioners from filing so-called public interest litigation which in fact has caused more injury to cause of public than subserving it."