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Dubey’s death: petition hearing in January
Our Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, December 12
The Supreme Court today put off the hearing on a petition seeking setting up of an inquiry commission to probe leaking the name of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) engineer Satyendra Dubey. He was killed for bringing to the Prime Minister’s notice rampant corruption in the Bihar leg of the Golden Quadrilateral road project.

A Bench, comprising Mr Justice S. Rajendera Babu and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur, said the public interest litigation on the issue would be taken up for hearing on January 5 after the vacations.

The PIL, filed by advocate Prakash Uttamchandra Upadhyay, urged the court to issue a direction to the Centre to set up a commission to probe from where the name of Dubey was leaked to the media when he had requested the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in his reported letter that his identity be kept secret.

The petitioner had also sought evolving of a foolproof system by the government to protect the identity of a person, especially a public servant, bringing to the notice of the authorities corruption in their departments.

The petitioner has named a Cabinet Secretary, the PMO, the Ministry of Road Transport, the NHAI and the Bihar Government as respondents.

Stating that the right to protection of life and liberty of a citizen was duty of the government, the petitioner said Dubey paid the price of life by bringing the “loot of public money and poor implementation” of the project due to nexus between NHAI officials and a contractor, to the Prime Minister’s notice in a letter on December 11, 2002.