Bhardwaj's Comment Sought On HC Judge In Shady Land Affair

New Delhi, Jan 5 (UNI) Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has sought Law and Justice Minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj's 'comment' on a serious corruption charge against a sitting High Court Judge, sources said today.

Chatterjee was responding to former Law Minister and Senior Advocate Shanti Bhushan's petition against a senior Lucknow HC Judge over an alleged shady land transaction, sources said.

They said the Speaker has conveyed that he has written to the Law Minister ''immediately for his comment, so that if necessary, I can take up the matter with the leaders of different political parties.'' Bhushan has also petitioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for impeachment proceedings against Justice Jagdish Bhalla as ''every investigation-- even a regular police investigation-- is blocked into what appears to be a serious offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act.'' The former Law Minister has charged that 7,200 square metres of land in New Okhla Industrial Development Area, valued around Rs seven crores, was turned over to a buyer related to the Judge for a mere Rs five lakhs.

The complaint was also presented by Bhushan to Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who has since forwarded it to the Chief Justice of India ''for taking appropriate action.'' Bhushan said his effort to have a police investigation done ran up against a 1991 Supreme Court judgement that even a First Information Report against a Judge needs ''prior permission of the CJI.'' ''We formally applied on 1/11/06 to the Chief Justice of India for permission to register an FIR against Justice Bhalla in this matter.

''However, till today, we have neither received permission to lodge the FIR nor have we heard from the CJI on this matter.'' UNI