Chief Justice lets CBI probe High Court Judge for the first time in history
New Delhi: Cracking the whip on corruption in higher judiciary, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has allowed CBI to lodge a regular case against serving Allahabad High Court judge Justice S N Shukla on allegations of graft for favours to a private medical college for MBBS admission.
The permission to the CBI to register the case came after the agency wrote a letter to Justice Gogoi stating that a preliminary inquiry was registered by it against the judge and others on the advise of the previous CJI Dipak Misra when the matter regarding the alleged misconduct by the judge was brought to his knowledge.
The CBI also placed before the CJI a brief note on the preliminary inquiry along with the chronological chart while seeking permission for initiating a regular case for investigation.
Taking note of the letter and documents provided by the CBI, Justice Ranjan Gogoi in his communication to the agency, said: "I have considered the note appended to your letter on the above subject. In the facts and circumstances of the case I am constrained to grant permission to initiate a regular case for investigation as sought for in your letter..."
An official of the Supreme Court said this is for the first time that a permission has been granted to register case against a sitting high court judge.
There have been instances earlier that in corruption cases against the members of higher judiciary recommendations were made to the government for their removal through impeachment proceedings which never culminated into removal.
The development against Justice Shukla comes months after the apex court, in its administrative side, had taken away judicial work from him.
The CJI's decision to allow the probe agency to proceed against a serving high court judge assumes significance in wake of its earlier direction in the K Veeraswamy case in which it had prevented any investigating agency from lodging an FIR without first showing the evidence to the CJI for permission to investigate the judge.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
