Supreme Court seeks report from Chief Secretary, DGP on Jharkhand judge’s ‘murder’

New Delhi, July 30

A day after a judicial officer was allegedly killed in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, the Supreme Court on Friday took suo motu cognisance of the matter and directed the state’s Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to submit a status report on the probe into it within a week.

A Bench, led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, however, clarified that the Jharkhand High Court would continue to monitor the case while the top court would deal with the larger issue of safety and security of judicial officers across India.

“We want to be apprised of the investigation status,” it said, adding Jharkhand Chief Secretary and DGP of the state would also give details of the law and order situation in and around court premises in the state. District and Sessions Judge-8 of Dhanbad Court, Uttam Anand, was out on morning walk at around 5 am on Thursday when he was hit by a vehicle from behind near the district court, reports quoting the local police said. An auto-rickshaw driver took him to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, reports said. A purported CCTV footage of the incident suggested Anand was deliberately hit from behind.

The Bench said it had come across several instances of attack on judicial officers and lawyers inside and outside the court premises and wanted to address the larger issue of safety and security of judicial officers. The Bench said on the next date of hearing, it would consider issuing notices to all states and UTs in the matter. — TNS

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