Karnataka HC judge says threatened of transfer over remarks on ACB

Justice HP Sandesh of the High Court of Karnataka on Monday said he was threatened with transfer after his remark against the AntiCorruption Bureau ACB that it had become a collection centre He said he was unfazed by such threatsJustice Sandesh had made observations against the ACB last week and its functioning while hearing a bail plea of P S Mahesh a deputy Tahsildar in the office of the Bengaluru City Deputy CommissionerTwo staff members of the office were arrested for receiving a bribe of Rs5 lakh in exchange of favourable order in a land disputeThe court had taken objections as to how senior officers were being protected and only junior staff were being prosecuted in the caseIn a related development today Manjunath J the IAS officer and former Bengaluru City Deputy Commissioner was arrested in the same case by ACBJustice Sandesh had said the ACB had become a collection centre and the ADGP of the ACB a tainted officer The court had on June 29 ordered the ACB to produce details of all cases since 2016 in which the ACB had filed B reportsWhen the case came up for hearing again today Justice Sandesh said I am ready for it for the good of people Your ACB ADGP seems to be a powerful person Somebody has told this to my colleague I have been informed about it by a judge The threat of transfer will be recorded in the orderSeemanth Kumar Singh is the ADGP of ACBThe Judge further said he wasnt afraid of the threatsI dont fear anyone I am ready to bell the cat I have not accumulated property after becoming a judge I dont care if I lose the position I am the son of a farmer I am ready to till the land I dont belong to any political party I dont adhere to any political ideology he saidWhen the ACB counsel informed the court that another Bench is hearing the matter pertaining to the report on B reports a term for closure reports Justice Sandesh said You have been filing Breports on those who were caught redhanded Why are you not furnishing details to me while the information has already been given to the Division BenchIn a further remark on the ACB the court said Are you protecting the public or tainted persons The black coat is not for the protection of the corrupt The corruption has become a cancer and it should not reach stage four The officers are being extorted after threatening them with search warrantsThe court had earlier directed for submission of the service records of the ACB ADGPThe service records of ACB ADGP have not been produced before the court You have reached a stage of issuing threats to the judge The whole state is mired in corruption If Vitamin M is there you will protect anyone the court saidThe court ordered the presence of the DPAR Secretary in the next hearing on July 7This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever