[BREAKING] Judge Uttam Anand Death Case Goes To CBI : Jharkhand High Court Accepts State's Recommendation

Accepting the recommendation made by the Jharkhand Government, the Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the probe into the death case of Dhanbad district judge Uttam Anand at the earliest. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad gave this direction during the hearing of the case today.

Uttam Anand, who was posted as Additional District and Sessions Judge of Dhanbad, was knocked down by a vehicle on July 28 while he was on his morning jog. The CCTV visuals of the incident had emerged on social media, sending shock waves across the legal fraternity.

While taking suo-moto cognizance of the matter, the High Court had directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the incident and submit a report by August 03. At the time of ordering a probe by SIT, the Chief Justice headed bench had called for a speedy, fair, and professional investigation' making it clear that the Court will monitor the progress and decide whether the probe will be continued by SIT or handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Additional Director General of Police Sanjay Latkar headed the SIT looking into the matter. It remarked,

"If at any point of time it appears to the court that the investigation is not heading in the right direction, then the case will be handed over to the CBI."

Dissatisfied with the progress of the SIT, the bench questioned that when the incident occurred at 5.08 am, why was FIR was registered at 12.45 pm; it was clear from CCTV footage that the judge was picked up from the spot and taken to a hospital. "Do the police register an FIR only on the basis of a statement? Do the police not register an FIR on their own? Why did the police take six hours to register the FIR?", it asked.

A day after the shocking death of judge Uttam Anand, the Jharkhand government recommended handing over the probe into the unfateful death of Judge Uttam Anand. At today's hearing, the central investigating agency informed the Court that it had received the state government's letter in this regard. The CBI is likely to issue a notification for the investigation on Wednesday. After the notification is issued, the Court directed that the agency should immediately register an FIR and directed the government to hand over all the case documents to the CBI. The Court directed the State to extend all logistical support to the CBI.

The High Court also directed the Director-General of Police to ensure security to the judicial officers in the State of Jharkhand.

On July 30, the Supreme Court took suo moto cognizance of the incident, looking into the larger issue of nature of the incident and the steps taken by the state governments for the protection of judicial officers inside and outside the court premises. Chief Justice N V Ramana directed the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) of Jharkhand to submit a report in a week on the status of the investigation on the sad demise of additional district and sessions Judge Uttam Anand. said a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana.

(With PTI Inputs)