[BREAKING] We want a speedy, professional investigation on Judge Uttam Anand death: Jharkhand High Court directs SIT to submit report by August 3

The Jharkhand High Court has directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the death of Dhanbad Additional and District Sessions Judge, Uttam Anand, to submit its report by August 3 (Court on its own motion v. State of Jharkhand)..The direction was passed by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan in the suo motu case initiated by the High Court regarding the death of the judge Anand who was mowed down by an auto rickshaw on Wednesday."We want a speedy, fair and professional investigation in the matter," the Court said..Judge Uttam Anand was hearing some high profile cases including the murder case of Ranjay Singh, close aide of Jharia MLA Sanjeev Singh. Moreover, he had recently rejected the bail petitions of two members of a gang of Aman Singh, a criminal/gangster of Uttar Pradesh. While it was initially believed to be an accident, CCTV footage of the incident which had surfaced, suggested that the vehicle was deliberately rammed into the judge as he was walking along the edge of the road. .The High Court, in its order, directed the Director General of Police to issue appropriate order/direction for the SIT to be headed by by Sanjay A Lathkar, IPS, ADG and submit a report regarding the crime rate in the State since February 2020. "We are directing the S.I.T. to submit a report on the next date of hearing. Let an affidavit be filed disclosing as to when the information regarding the occurrence was received by the police and the time when the F.I.R. was registered. Let an information be also given to us as to whether the procedure of post mortem was video-graphed or not? The Director General of Police, Jharkhand will apprise this Court about the graph rate of the crime in the State of Jharkhand after January, 2020," the order said. .The Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the issue based on a letter sent by the Principal District and Sessions Judge, on July 29 regarding "sad and unfortunate demise" of judge Anand..In this regard, while expressing concern over the death of Judge Anand, the Court said that "apprehending a pawn is meaningless unless the conspiracy is fully uncovered and the mastermind is nabbed. Time would be essence of matter in this investigation. Delay as well as well as any flaw in investigation may eventually affect the trial adversely.".The Advocate General and DGP of Jharkhand informed the Court that SIT has apprehended two persons regarding Anand's death and a high ranking police officer would lead the SIT and the investigation would be conducted in a very professional manner..On the question of a CBI probe in the matter, Advocate General said that since the SIT has been constituted and two vital persons have been apprehended, therefore, the matter "may not be handed over to CBI otherwise it will have a demoralizing effect upon the police force of the State.".The members of Bar also expressed their concern over the day-light killing of the judge."It cannot be taken as a simple case of accident or murder rather the investigation is required to be conducted by the investigating agency on the angle that there may be conspiracy for the killing of the judicial officer as, according to them, the judicial officer concerned was in the seisin of very sensitive matters," the members of the Bar submitted before the courtThe matter will be heard next on August 3. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India on Friday registered a suo motu case on safeguarding courts and ensuring protection and security of judges in the wake of judge Anand's death.The top court also directed the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police of Jharkhand to submit a status report on investigation into death of judge Anand within a week..[Read Order]