CBI books sitting Allahabad High Court judge in bribery case
New Delhi, Dec 07: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked a judge of the Allahabad High Court in connection with a bribery case. Justice S N Shukla has been named as a prime accused along with retired Odisha High Court judge, I M Quddusi, who was arrested in the year 2017.
Following the registration of the FIR, the CBI raided the residences of Justice Shukla in Lucknow. The CBI also raided the homes of Justice Quddusi apart from 5 other locations and recovered incriminating material.
In 2018, the Chief Justice of India, had recommended the impeachment of Justice S N Shukla following an adverse report on him by an in-house panel. The CJI had set the process in motion after he wrote to the Prime Minister of India for the impeachment of the judge.
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Justice Shukla was under the scanner for allegedly granting permission to a private medical college to admit students despite the ban by the Medical Council of India and Supreme Court.
Complaints of corruption were made against the judge and the same was received by the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra. An in-house inquiry was then set up to probe the allegations.
The three-member committee, comprising Madras high court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee, Sikkim high court Chief Justice S K Agnihotri and Madhya Pradesh high court judge P K Jaiswal, recently concluded its probe against Justice Shukla and made adverse remarks against him in their report.
Based on the recommendations, the CJI asked Justice Shukla to either resign or opt for voluntary retirement. He, however, refuted the charges and turned down both the suggestions.
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The CJI then advised the Chief Justice of the High Court to consider withdrawing judicial work from Justice Shukla. Article 217 states that a judge can be removed by an order of the President of India after both Houses of Parliament vote for the removal on the ground of proven misbehaviour and incapacity. The vote must be by a two-thirds majority.