The Supreme Court has reconstituted the in-house committee to probe allegations made against two sitting judges of Orissa High Court..The reconstituted in-house committee would now be headed by the Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and includes Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, and Madhya Pradesh High Court Judge, Justice Ravi Shanker Jha..The three-member in-house committee headed by Justice Indira Banerjee is due to hold its first meeting this week..The committee is tasked with looking into complaints made between August 2016 and May 2017 against Orissa High Court judges, Justices Indrajit Mohanty and SS Sahoo. The complainant is an Orissa-based RTI Activist Jayanata Kumar Das..It can be noted that the complainants also include an organisation dubbed as “The Truth”, and its office bearers, Dr. Aditya Prasad Mishra (President) and Advocate Shyam Manohar (Secretary). However, these complainants were not traceable when a former in-house committee took up the matter in May 2017..The allegations made against the judges pertain to the personal use of public funds and misuse of official position in violation of the code of ethics applicable to judges..Justice Mohanty is alleged to have obtained a term loan of Rs 2.5 crores from the State Bank of India in 2009, to run a hotel named Triple C in Cuttack which he owns. While questioning the ethics of a sitting judge indulging in such activity, Mr. Das has also pointed out that the hotel is a stone’s throw away from the Orissa High Court building..As against Justice Sahoo, it is alleged that he used funds in excess of his entitlements to renovate his official residence, while he was an additional judge..This is the third time that an in-house committee is being constituted to inquire into the above allegations..The first committee was expected to sit in March 2017. However, one of its members, Justice Abdul Nazeer was elevated to the Supreme Court before it could do so..Thereafter, the in-house committee was re-constituted with then Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice SJ Vazifdar at its helm. The other members were T Vaiphei (then Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court) and Arun Tandon (then Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court)..This committee held a hearing in May 2017, where the statements of both the complainant and the judges were recorded. However, progress was subsequently stalled after the name of a sitting Supreme Court Judge came up during the probe..As noted in the minutes of the meeting held on May 1, 2017,.“The allegations against the sitting Hon’ble Judge of the Supreme Court of India cannot be gone into by this Committee as the in-house Procedure does not permit the Committee to do so. The effect thereof on whether this Committee can proceed with the inquiry against the two learned Judges will be decided later separately.“.Consequently, the committee wrote to the then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice JS Khehar on the appropriate course of action. However, before any further development on this front, two of the judges from the second committee (i.e. Justices Vazifdar and Vaiphei) retired..The retirement of the two judges, in turn, prompted Das to write to CJI Dipak Mishra in May this year, seeking the constitution of a fresh committee..Accordingly, the third in-house committee was constituted..The committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday afternoon, at the Tamil Nadu House, New Delhi. Accordingly, an intimation dated June 30 has directed Das to reach Delhi on July 5, to present himself before the committee..Read intimation addressed to Jayanta Das concerning meeting of the in-house committee on July 5, 2018:
The Supreme Court has reconstituted the in-house committee to probe allegations made against two sitting judges of Orissa High Court..The reconstituted in-house committee would now be headed by the Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and includes Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, and Madhya Pradesh High Court Judge, Justice Ravi Shanker Jha..The three-member in-house committee headed by Justice Indira Banerjee is due to hold its first meeting this week..The committee is tasked with looking into complaints made between August 2016 and May 2017 against Orissa High Court judges, Justices Indrajit Mohanty and SS Sahoo. The complainant is an Orissa-based RTI Activist Jayanata Kumar Das..It can be noted that the complainants also include an organisation dubbed as “The Truth”, and its office bearers, Dr. Aditya Prasad Mishra (President) and Advocate Shyam Manohar (Secretary). However, these complainants were not traceable when a former in-house committee took up the matter in May 2017..The allegations made against the judges pertain to the personal use of public funds and misuse of official position in violation of the code of ethics applicable to judges..Justice Mohanty is alleged to have obtained a term loan of Rs 2.5 crores from the State Bank of India in 2009, to run a hotel named Triple C in Cuttack which he owns. While questioning the ethics of a sitting judge indulging in such activity, Mr. Das has also pointed out that the hotel is a stone’s throw away from the Orissa High Court building..As against Justice Sahoo, it is alleged that he used funds in excess of his entitlements to renovate his official residence, while he was an additional judge..This is the third time that an in-house committee is being constituted to inquire into the above allegations..The first committee was expected to sit in March 2017. However, one of its members, Justice Abdul Nazeer was elevated to the Supreme Court before it could do so..Thereafter, the in-house committee was re-constituted with then Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice SJ Vazifdar at its helm. The other members were T Vaiphei (then Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court) and Arun Tandon (then Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court)..This committee held a hearing in May 2017, where the statements of both the complainant and the judges were recorded. However, progress was subsequently stalled after the name of a sitting Supreme Court Judge came up during the probe..As noted in the minutes of the meeting held on May 1, 2017,.“The allegations against the sitting Hon’ble Judge of the Supreme Court of India cannot be gone into by this Committee as the in-house Procedure does not permit the Committee to do so. The effect thereof on whether this Committee can proceed with the inquiry against the two learned Judges will be decided later separately.“.Consequently, the committee wrote to the then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice JS Khehar on the appropriate course of action. However, before any further development on this front, two of the judges from the second committee (i.e. Justices Vazifdar and Vaiphei) retired..The retirement of the two judges, in turn, prompted Das to write to CJI Dipak Mishra in May this year, seeking the constitution of a fresh committee..Accordingly, the third in-house committee was constituted..The committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday afternoon, at the Tamil Nadu House, New Delhi. Accordingly, an intimation dated June 30 has directed Das to reach Delhi on July 5, to present himself before the committee..Read intimation addressed to Jayanta Das concerning meeting of the in-house committee on July 5, 2018:
