September 23, 2017

Orissa High Court has issued a show-cause notice to the CBI, demanding an answer as to why & with whose permission, its officers entered the house of a sitting High Court Judge on Tuesday night.

A division bench of Chief Justice Vineet Saran & Justice B. R. Sarangi also issued notices on Friday to the state govt. & the Centre in this regard.

This direction came in response to a PIL filed by the HC bar association seeking a judicial inquiry into the incident & demanding stringent action against the officials who visited Justice C. R. Dash’s official residence to conduct a raid late at night.

CBI officials had apparently mistaken Justice Dash’s house as the 1 occupied by former High Court Judge Ishrat Masroor Quddusi, who was subsequently arrested in a Medical Admission scam. High Court has asked the CBI to file a reply as to whose permission it had taken before visiting the house of a sitting judge. The next hearing has been scheduled for 16th October.

Lawyers at the Orissa High Court had been on strike since Wednesday; describing the CBI action as an “attack on the Judiciary”. On Friday following the HC direction, the lawyers called off their strike.

“As per the guidelines, CBI should’ve verified the address & informed the Chief Justice before entering a sitting Judge’s house; but throwing norms to the wind, the CBI acted like a hooligan!” Bar Association Secretary Umesh Behura said. The lawyers said they would hold a meeting on October 19 to decide the future course of action.

Police have registered a trespassing case against CBI & launched a probe. A case has been registered under various sections of Indian Penal Code.