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| Saturday, 31 January 2004 |
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Uproar as bribed magistrate orders arrest of president, chief justice NEW DELHI, Friday (AFP) India's judicial community was in uproar as the Supreme Court probed claims that a magistrate ordered the arrest of India's president and chief justice after taking bribes from a TV reporter during a sting operation. Chief justice V.N. Khare told the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe allegations by Zee TV network that magistrate Brahm Bhatt took 40,000 rupees (851 dollars) or part of the money to issue the warrants in the city of Ahmedabad. The High Court of Gujarat state, of which Ahmedabad is the commercial capital, suspended Bhatt from service as the CBI framed charges against three lawyers for acting as conduits between the magistrate and the undercover reporter. Vijay Shekhar of Zee TV, who staged the sting, said he videotaped Bhatt issuing the four arrest warrants after being bribed. In Ahmedabad Thursday, lawyers targetted journalists and beat up Zee TV reporters. Shekhar said the now-charged lawyers helped him in securing the warrants against Indian President Abdul Kalam, and chief justice Khare, a supreme court judge and a lawyer. "Maybe if I had haggled the price would have come down. There was huge competition," he said, as judges and prosecutors seemed stunned by the incident which has cast a shadow on the credibility of India's lower, but the most crucial, rung of the judicial system. "Look at what is happening. You can get an arrest warrant for 40,000 rupees. Time has come to take strict action otherwise nothing would remain," Khare said. "If this is the state of affairs, only God knows what will happen to the country." Zee TV said the sting was not aimed at tarnishing the judiciary. "We do not wish to create havoc by showcasing such an incident but it becomes our moral duty and as a responsible media, we believe that we should bring the truth to the forefront," said Zee news chief Laxmi Goel. On Wednesday, as Zee presented its evidence to the apex court, President Kalam during a visit to Raipur city called for corruption-free India. "I am giving a call for a mission to make the nation corruption-free as its removal will be an important foundation for our nation. "If corruption is not eliminated,the vision to become a developed India by 2020 will be a remote dream, he said, and urged India's judicial community to start a nationwide movement against the scourge. Kapil Sibal, India's most-known lawyer, said the event shamed the judiciary. "It is well known corruption in rampant in the Indian judiciary. And, unfortunately, the situation in high courts are as bad. R.K. Jain, a nationally-prominent Supreme Court lawyer, said: "It is a state of disgust. "We now hope the apex court will evolve a mechanism to restore public faith in the judiciary." Millions of litigations are pending in Indian courts, mostly in the lower courts which often take up to 20 years to dispense justice. "It took me two days to get the four warrants," said Zee's Shekhar. Shekhar, who on Wednesday handed over the videotape to Khare, said he used the leading personalities because he assumed any judicial officer would be familiar with their names and their addresses. Bhatt, apparently unaware of the stature of the people he was issuing warrants against, happily obliged after Shekhar offered the bribe. Shekhar said he staged the sting following reports that businessmen were taking advantage of the tardy criminal process by filing complaints against rivals. The arrest orders were never executed. The four warrants speak of cheating, an offence that can send suspects to prison for up to two years. |
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