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Karnataka high court judge says threatened of transfer over remarks on ACB
“Your ADGP is so powerful… Some person spoken to one of our High Court judges. The judge came and sat with me and he says, giving an example of transferring one of the judge to some other district…I will not hesitate to mention the name of the judge also (sic),” the Karnataka high court judge said.
A Karnataka high court Judge on Monday made a startling claim that he was given an indirect threat of transfer if continued to monitor progress of a case involving a senior IAS officer in Bengaluru.
Justice HP Sandesh made an oral observation during the hearing of a corruption charge of another government official, LiveLaw reported on Monday.
The official the HC judge was referring to was on the investigations being carried out by Karnataka’s Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) in a case involving Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru (Urban).
The Judge was hearing a case filed by PS Mahesh, a deputy Tashildar for allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹5 lakh in a matter related to a land dispute.
In the case relating to the IAS officer, the Judge equated corruption to “cancer” and said that he will protect the independence of the judiciary at all costs from such threats.
“Your ADGP is so powerful… Some person spoken to one of our High Court judges. The judge came and sat with me and he says, giving an example of transferring one of the judge to some other district…I will not hesitate to mention the name of the judge also (sic),” the judge said.
He added that he would protect the independence of the judiciary at the cost of his own “judgeship”.
Karnataka has witnessed allegations of corruption and intimidation pile up in recent times but rarely has a HC judge made such startling remarks in which government officials have been trying to use their powers against the Judiciary.
