Probe into PSI recruitment scam transparent: HM Araga Jnanendra
Bengaluru, Sep 20: The Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Tuesday told the State Assembly that the inquiry by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into the police sub-inspector recruitment scam is transparent and that the High Court has appreciated the way the probe was conducted.
The Opposition Congress has been demanding a judicial probe into the scam by a sitting High Court judge.
The CID is conducting an inquiry in a transparent manner. A total of 97 people has been arrested and they include 48 candidates and 26 policemen, Jnanendra told the Karnataka Assembly amid a din with Congress MLAs trooping into the well of the House.
The CID is conducting the inquiry properly. Since the matter is sub judice, I will not share more details. There is nothing suspicious in the investigation as has been stated by the Opposition, he said.
The Home Minister was replying during the discussion on the PSI recruitment scam.
He said the money to the tune of Rs 8 crore deposited in the banks and mutual funds has been frozen and 506 gm of gold seized.
The money deposited by R D Patil, the kingpin of the act of using a bluetooth device in the scam, and his aides have been seized. Patil is involved in all the eight cases, Jnanendra told the House.
According to him, the suspended Additional Director General of Police Amrit Paul, who was later arrested by the CID, had kept Rs 41 lakh with Shambhu Lingaiah.
This amount was collected from the candidates, he said.
Another accused Sridhar had kept Rs 1.71 crore with his wife and 70 lakh with his another relative Naveen, Janendra said.
The Home Minister apprised the House that the government wanted ADGP Paul to undergo la ie detection test but he did not agree to it.
The Opposition was not content with these replies and continued raising slogans demanding the judicial probe.
The Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah who started the discussion said he Kalaburagi city BJP Mahila Morcha president Divya Hagaragi was arrested in this connection.
Despite objection from certain quarters, her Jnana Jyothi School in Kalaburagi was one of the centres where the illegalities took place, Siddaramaiah stated.
He alleged that the government was in denial from the beginning even when the State Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan wrote to the government on February 5, 2022 pointing to large-scale irregularities in the PSI recruitment.
The former chief minister said the Vijayapura BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal too had alleged widespread corruption in the PSI recruitment and had even suspected the involvement for a former chief minister and his son.
Further, Siddaramaiah said BJP MLA Basavaraj Dhadesugur's audio in which a conversation on the exchange of Rs 15 lakh took place with a candidate's father Parasappa.
Prabhu Chavan, Yatnal, Dhadesugur and Parasappa must also be investigated. You issue notice to our Congress MLA Priyank Kharge and not to these people, the Congress leader sought to know.
Kharge was served notice for holding a press conference in Kalaburagi regarding this case.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy defended serving notices to Kharge saying that the Congress MLA should explain how did he get the audio-clip which he played in the press conference.
You were in possession of evidences. That means you have colluded. You made a business, the Minister charged.
The Congressmen then trooped in the well of the House for accusing their member and also demanding a judicial probe into the matter.
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CJI's advice to aspirant: Join the bar, become a lawyer, don't hanker for judicial services post
New Delhi (PTI): She came to the Supreme Court seeking a re-evaluation of her paper in the examination for joining judicial services as a magistrate. What she got instead was a rejection — and a candid confession by the Chief Justice that he too had wanted to join the judicial services in his youth but was advised by a senior judge to become a lawyer instead.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Friday dismissed a plea filed by Prerna Gupta, the judicial services aspirant.
As Gupta pressed her case, the CJI intervened and said, "Let me share my personal story and I hope you will go happily as we cannot allow your petition."
He recounted his time as a final-year law student in 1984 when he wanted to become a judicial officer. As per requirement, he cleared the written test and was set to appear for an interview.
Judicial services is one of the two routes to become a judge after initially joining as a magistrate in lower court and thereafter rising through the ranks to become judge in a high court and possibly the Supreme Court.
The other route is to join the Bar, which means becoming a lawyer, and after building a reputation be picked from the Bar to become a judge at a senior level.
By the time the CJI's exam results came out, he had started practising at the Punjab and Haryana High Court when he was called for the interview.
The senior-most judge on the interview panel happened to be a judge before whom he had recently argued two significant matters.
"One of the matters was Sunita Rani vs Baldev Raj, where he had allowed my appeal in a matrimonial case and set aside the decree of divorce granted by the District Judge on the ground of schizophrenia," he noted.
Before the interview could take place, the judge called the young Surya Kant to his chamber and asked, 'Do you want to become a judicial officer?'
"I said 'yes.' He immediately said, 'Get out from (my) the chamber.'"
The courtroom fell silent as the CJI Justice described his initial heartbreak.
“I came out trembling. All my dreams were shattered. I thought he had snubbed me and that my career was over,” the CJI said.
However, the story took another turn the following day and the judge summoned him again, this time offering a piece of advice that would change the trajectory of his life.
“He said, ‘If you want to become (a judge), you are welcome. But my advice is, don’t become a judicial officer. The Bar is waiting for you,’” Justice Surya Kant recalled.
The CJI said he decided to skip his interview and didn't even tell his parents at first, fearing their disappointment, and instead chose to dedicate himself to his practice as an advocate.
“Now tell me did I make a bad right or bad decision,” the CJI asked and the litigant lawyer left the court with a smile on her face despite her case being dismissed.
Encouraging the petitioner to look toward the future rather than dwelling on the re-evaluation of a single paper, Justice Surya Kant said, "The Bar has much to offer."
