Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chadrachud has constituted a committee for comprehensive audit of the Supreme Court premises, to ensure accessibility in the justice system, under the chairmanship of a sitting judge of the Apex Court.

The CJI announced the formation of the Supreme Court Committee on Accessibility on Saturday, on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

As per the CJI, the Committee, to be headed by Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, will take into consideration the hardships faced by the specially-abled persons in their interface with the Apex Court.

Apart from conducting an accessibility audit extending to both physical as well as technology accessibility, the Committee will also prepare and release a questionnaire for persons with disabilities, who visit the Supreme Court premises.

It will further seek inputs from lawyers, litigants and interns attending the Apex Court proceedings.

The Committee will prepare a report containing the results of the audit and survey and recommend proposals geared towards removing barriers to access.

Members of the Committee include a Professor from NLU Bengaluru, a
differently-abled person employed at the Supreme Court, a differently-abled Advocate nominated by the Supreme Court Bar Association and a person nominated by the Centre for Disability Studies at NALSAR University of Law.

An Officer of the Supreme Court Registry will be the Member
Secretary of the Committee.

The initiative taken by the CJI falls in line with the theme of World Health Organisation for 2022, which is ‘Transformative solutions for inclusive development : the role of innovation in fuelling an accessible and equitable world’.

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Friday said the ultimate purpose of justice delivery system was to provide justice to the common man.

Speaking during his farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at the Supreme Court premises, the 48th CJI said, “I have embraced all the challenges that came my way and strengthened myself and understood that every failure carried
with it a seed of equivalent advantage.

“I never claimed myself to be a great judge, but always believed that the ultimate purpose of justice delivery system is to provide justice to the common man.

“In the last 75 years, our jurisprudence has evolved considerably. Our judiciary is not defined by a single order or decision. Yes, at times, it fell short of peoples’ expectations. But most of the times, it has championed the cause of the people. It was widely predicted that with A.K. Gopalan, the due process of law was history. But, this Court, in the case of Maneka Gandhi, restored what was taken away earlier.

“Similarly, ADM Jabalpur was seen as a death knell on personal liberty. Subsequently, the error stood rectified by a nine-Judge Bench in K.S. Puttaswamy. This institution never hesitated to remedy itself. Your hope upon the institution cannot be so weak that it is shattered with one perceived unfair judgment.

“When it comes to an individual judge, the expectations are very high. In the game of cricket, the player is expected to hit every ball for a six. But only a player knows as to how to deal with each ball, given the conditions of the pitch, the style of bowling and the placement of the fielders. The advocates are best placed to understand this predicament
of a Judge and dispel wrong notions about them.

“My life’s journey began in a remote village called Ponnavaram in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, where electricity, roads and basic amenities were not available. I saw electricity for the first time at 12. I learnt the alphabets in English around the same time. We used to reach school walking on muddy roads, across the fields and crossing streams.

“With a lot of struggle, and hard work I have come up in life. For this, I thank my first gurus, that is, my parents and the teachers in various government schools. I am indebted to all my teachers and lecturers because the essence of education that they had given to me was helpful not only for the purpose of acquiring academic knowledge, but also
helped in providing necessary moral strength and courage to face any calamity in life.

This long journey is marked by many experiences, most of which are sour, rather than sweet. At the young age of 17, I could lead a trade union of around 10,000 workers. At the same time, I could also lead students, farmers and employees. Confronting problems, and resolving issues is not something new to me. This period enabled me to interact with persons of varying ideologies and broadened my horizons. They taught me as to how to live in isolation, in an environment where you cannot express or share your thoughts on any of the issues.

“I witnessed the resilience of human existence, the power of human struggles, dignity in poverty and most importantly, unshakable hope and faith. Through these ordinary everyday experiences, I developed the extraordinary passion of serving the people.

“Being a first-generation lawyer, I have faced many challenges in my life and realized that except hard work, there is no shortcut to success. The journey of struggle and bitter experiences in my career helped me to diversify my activities. I watched the important events of this country unfolding from close quarters.

“I always accepted rejection as God’s redirection and retained my honesty
and integrity. I want every advocate to remember that sometimes life scares you and beats you up, but there is a day when you realize that you are not just a survivor, you are a warrior. You are tougher than anything that is thrown your way.

“It has been the honour of my life to be elevated as a Judge. I accepted it with all humility. Once I became a Judge, I gave my heart and mind to it. From the date I joined bench till I reached the highest possible position in the judiciary, I was subjected to conspiratorial scrutinies. My family and I suffered in silence. But ultimately, the truth will always prevail.”

“When you ultimately judge me as a Judge, I would like to say that I may
be judged as a very ordinary Judge, but one who greatly relished and enjoyed the job, who meticulously followed the rules of the game and did not trespass into provinces forbidden.

“More importantly, as a person who recognized preliminarily the moral power of a Judge and heard the senior and junior alike. I always wanted my name to be etched on the hearts of people through my conduct and behavior, rather than case law and journals. I want to remain in those vibrant hearts, which will give me warmth and keep me going forever,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice-President of the Supreme Court Bar association, Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai said, “Justice NV Ramana is the son of the soil. He started out as a farmer, then became a journalist and ultimately, reached the highest position in Indian Judiciary. He has always helped people in need. During the Covid-19 pandemic, whenever the CJI came to know about a lawyer or his family struggling for bed, he would call up a hospital and get the bed allotted for the person.”

“The CJI has this wonderful ability of making friends easily. As the Chairman of NALSA, he agreed to the proposal of lawyers doing the pro bono service. He has always vouched for cooperation between the bar and the bench. He has tried to resolve each and every issue. He is the Sachin Tendulkar of Indian Judiciary, who plays very well.”

“The CJI’s remarks in the case related to Kirti Insurance Company regarding the contribution of homemakers in the economy has received praise from different quarters. The Chamber committee got full independence and authority under him,” added Rai.

Justice U.U. Lalit, who is going to take over charge from Justice Ramana, said the 250 High Court appointments he made during his time in office and his push for better judicial infrastructure were the landmarks of Justice Ramana’s tenure as 48th CJI.

Talking about the role he would now play in the shoes of CJI, Justice Lalit said that in his time, along with carrying the legacy, he will make listing of cases as simple as possible. He also promised to try for establishing a precise regime to govern mentioning of urgent matters.

In his words, Justice Lalit mentioned that:

(1) Listing of cases, I assure that we will make listing as simple as clear and as transparent as possible.

(2) Area of mentioning urgent matters…we will look into this and very shortly you can have a clear cut regime where any urgent matters can be freely mentioned before any respective courts.

(3) Next is constitution bench and three judge bench matters as I believe job of Supreme Court is to lay down law in clear cut terms so that people are aware of peculiar positions in law. He said  we will strive to have one constitution bench functioning throughout the year.”

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said, “It is said that a judge delivers judgements throughout his judicial career and a bar delivers judgement on the day he retires. This is our verdict. Not a single chair is vacant, in fact, people are standing outside.”

“The first contribution of the CJI to the legal profession has been the speed with which the appointments were made. One third of the total judicial strength of the country, were filled up by the present collegium. The Mission mode in which Justice Ramana used to make those appointments, was amazing.”

“The second contribution is his zeal for infrastructural development of various courts throughout the country,” he added.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said “The CJI has done great work in promoting ADR in this country. He could set up IAMC at Telangana, which is considered as having world-class facility. his vision is to bring India on the same map, where it is considered to be preferred hub of arbitration. Had CJI Ramana joined active politics, he would have been the Prime Minister of India today.”

Read Justice Ramana’s full speech below:

The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur in the abetment to suicide case involving a woman and her friend, who had set themselves on fire outside the Supreme Court and succumbed to burn injuries.

A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed this order, while hearing a Criminal Miscellaneous Bail Application filed by Amitabh Thakur.

The bail application has been filed by the applicant in FIR under Sections 120-B, 167, 195-A, 218, 306, 504, 506 IPC, Police Station Hazratganj, District Lucknow with the prayer to enlarge him on bail.

Counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant has falsely been implicated in the F.I.R lodged by SubInspector, Daya Shankar Dwivedi.

It has further been submitted that the applicant is a law abiding citizen and is active on social media. The applicant is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering and alumni of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. The applicant is also an Ex IPS Officer of 1992 batch of U.P Cadre and he has always been a socially conscious person towards the public at large.

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It has further been submitted that the applicant always raised his voice against the victimization of the civilised persons either by the Government machinery or by others and referred the matter to the appropriate forum with the request for taking necessary action, on account of which, frivolous cases were filed against him and he has been compulsorily retired from service vide order dated 17th March, 2021 and consequential order dated 21st March, 2021.

Counsel for the applicant submitted that the facts of the case are that on 5th November, 2020, an acquaintance of the applicant shared a video link on his WhatsApp, which was of 10:08 minutes uploaded on social media Facebook, wherein victims  was accusing the then Sub-Inspector Sanjay Rai, Circle Officer, Bhelupur, Varansi and one Atul Rai of torturing him.

He was also accusing the District Administration of Varanasi as being responsible for his ordeal. In the aforesaid video, victims were continuously venting out his anger as aggrieved by the action of the aforesaid officials. Apprehending some untoward incident, the applicant being a responsible and prudent citizen, besides being an IPS Officer, tagged the aforesaid video on his Twitter handle and Facebook to the concerned officials of U.P Police on their official ID and requested to take cognizance on the issue as also to conduct inquiry in the same for ventilating the grievance of a man.

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The applicant also sent an email on the same day, i.e, on November 05, 2020 to the concerned officials.

Nadeem Murtaza, counsel for the applicant submitted that after the aforesaid action of the applicant, on the very next day, i.e, on 6th November, 2020, applicant was contacted by several persons on social media informing him that said matter pertains to one Atul Rai, who happens to be the Member of Parliament from Ghosi.

It was also informed to the applicant that victims had conspired with one Angad Rai and had got the Atul Rai implicated in a false rape case. Applicant also received a copy of the inquiry report of Circle Officer, P.S Bhelupur, District Varanasi dated 08.08.2020 and audio call recording purported to be call recording between victims and another person, who was informed as Angad Rai.

After perusal of the aforesaid inquiry report dated 08.08.2020, the applicant learnt that one F.I.R  was lodged by victim girl against Atul Rai, under Sections 420, 376, 504, 506 I.P.C, P.S Lanka, District Varanasi.

Counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant vide e-mail sent a letter dated 06.11.2020 and informed to the concerned officials about the aforesaid inquiry report dated 08.08.2020 as well as audio recording that for 13672 times, conversation was made by Angad Rai from Sonbhadra jail.

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Counsel for the applicant vehemently submitted that the applicant was neither acquainted with victims nor with Atul Rai.

Murtaza submitted that by the said act, the applicant, being a police officer, only tried to attract the responsible officers towards the report of Circle Officer, which reveals that more than 10,000 times, conversation was made by a person from inside the jail and the safety and security of the jail was at stake.

Counsel for the applicant submitted that on 6th November, 2020, at about 9.18 p.m, the applicant received a phone call from a lady from mobile. She introduced herself as a victim girl and was very infuriated by the action of the applicant, whereby the applicant had requested concerned officials to take strict legal action in the matter through his social media posts. Victim girl threatened and intimidated the applicant on call and kept saying that she would come to Lucknow and self-immolate in front of the applicant’s house. The said call lasted for 10:41 minutes.

Murtaza submitted that the victims while talking to the applicant on 06.11.2020 and 07.11.2020, had threatened and intimidated that both of them will come to the residence of applicant and commit suicide in front of his house. The applicant, apprehending the mishap, immediately reported the Director General of Police, U.P, Lucknow vide letter dated 07.11.2020 about the aforesaid calls made by victims to the applicant.

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He further submitted that the charge sheet is already filed under Sections 120B, 167, 195A, 218, 504, 506, and 306 I.P.C. and except Section 306, all the offences are punishable for less than seven years.

Counsel for the applicant said that Section 306 I.PC makes abetment of suicide a criminal offence prescribes punishment for the same. Abetment is defined under Section 107 IPC, according to which, a person abets the doing of a thing, who instigates any person to do that thing; or engages with one or more other person or persons in any conspiracy for the doing of that thing, if an act or illegal omission takes place in pursuance of that conspiracy, and in order to the doing of that thing; or intentionally aids, by any or illegal omission, the doing of that thing.

V.K Shahi, Additional Advocate General vehemently opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the applicant.

The AAG further submitted that incident of rape was committed by Atul Rai with victim on March 7, 2018, but when her FIR was not lodged, she made a complaint to Director General of Police, on which, FIR was lodged on May 1, 2019 under Sections 420, 376, 504, 506 IPC, PS Lanka, District Varansi against accused Atul Rai and charge sheet was filed by the Investigating Officer after detail investigation in the said case.

He also submitted that the trial of the said case is pending before MP/MLA court.

AAG submitted that father of the said accused Atul Rai moved an application before the SSP/Additional Director General, Varanasi Zone for further investigation, on which, report was asked from Circle Officer, PS Bhelupur, District Varanasi, who after conducting the inquiry in a case where charge sheet was already filed and trial is going on, recommended for further investigation.

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The AAG vehemently submitted that the copy of the inquiry report was taken by the applicant by abusing his position and aired the said report of the Circle Officer in relation to further investigation on social media with the intention to give favour to the accused Atul Rai. Shahi next submitted that the accused has no right to request for further investigation.

The Court noted, “It is evident from the allegations made in the FIR lodged by Sub-Inspector, Daya Shankar Dwivedi that the applicant had aired the report of Circle Officer, PS Bhelupur, District Varanasi dated August 8, 2020, which was forwarded to SSP, Varanasi, in which, certain observations were made that victims conspired with Angad Rai (who is confined in District Jail, Sonbhadra) for implicating Atul Rai. In the said report, it is also mentioned that there were conversations between victims and Angad Rai and other persons more than 10,000 times.

The Circle Officer report dated August 8, 2020 also recommended further investigation of FIR, which was lodged by the victim against Atul Rai, of which, trial was pending before the appropriate court. Allegations made in FIR are that due to said airing of the report on social media, so many vulgar comments were passed by several persons on victims, on the social sites, which were tarnishing the image of victims, on account of which, they committed suicide.

The crux of the allegations made in the FIR is that the applicant, who by misusing his position, obtained the aforesaid report of the Circle Officer and aired the same on social sites, which tarnished the image of victims and, thus, has committed the offence under Sections 120-B, 167, 195-A, 218, 306, 504 and 506 IPC.

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“However, the case diary reveals that one application was moved by the father of Atul Rai for further investigation of FIR lodged by the victim on which a report was sought by the SSP, Varanasi from the Circle Officer, PS Bhelupur. It is further evident that in pursuance of the said directions of SSP, Varanasi, a report dated August 8, 2020 was submitted by the Circle Officer. It is also evident from the case diary that under Right to Information Act, the said report was provided by the officials of the competent police officials to the complainant.

“Moreover, the case diary reveals that the victims, during the conversation with the applicant on phone on November 7, 2020, asked the applicant, if he wanted to help the victims, then the applicant had to give him money per month.

“Admittedly, the charge sheet is already filed and there is no averment in the counter affidavit for tampering any evidence. The applicant has been in jail since August 27, 2021,”

-the Court observed, while allowing the bail application.

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The Court ordered, “Let applicant – Amitabh Thakur be released on bail in FIR under Sections 120-B, 167, 195-A, 218, 306, 504, 506 IPC, Police Station Hazratganj, District Lucknow, on his furnishing personal bond of Rs 20,000 and two reliable sureties each of the like amount, subject to following conditions:-

(i) Applicant will not try to influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence of the case or otherwise misuse the liberty of bail.

(ii) Applicant will fully cooperate in expeditious disposal of the case and shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when witnesses are present in the Court.

(iii) Applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (a) opening of the case, (b) framing of charge; and (c) recording of statement under Section 313 CrPC. Any violation of above conditions will be treated as misuse of bail and the Court below will be at liberty to pass appropriate order in the matter regarding cancellation of bail.