New Delhi: Union Law Minister M Veerappa
Moily on Monday said he was keeping a "close watch" on the PF case
in which the prime accused died in a jail in Ghaziabad, and
promised to ensure a "proper enquiry" into it.
"Yeah, I am keeping a close watch on that and ensure
that there should be a proper enquiry and I am getting reports
on that," Moily told a private news channel when asked whether he is taking a close look at the enquiry into the case and taking it as some
sort of a benchmark case.
He said the nation would like to know the truth behind
the death of accused Ashutosh Asthana, a court staff and the
prime accused in the Rs 23 crore scam in which the names of a
number of higher and lower judiciary judges, including that of
a judge of the apex court, had cropped up.
"Any conspiracy or anything, which led to his death...
I think public would...the nation would like to know the real
truth behind it," Moily said when asked about the possibility
of conspiracies behind Asthana's death.
He said the death of Asthana was "really shocking" and
"needs to be thoroughly probed into" but refused to accept
that this could derail the process of investigation into the
scam.
"I don't think it (the investigation) should be
derailed. After all, state government should take more
interest. I don't think the death of an accused should derail
(the investigation)," he said adding that he does not have any
exact information about what really happened.
Moily said there was a need to "quicken the process"
of bringing the guilty in the PF case to book.
"It is a serious matter and it needs to be properly
looked into," he said while cautioning against taking any
hurried finding or opinion on the issue.
Asked whether he was concerned about corruption in a
section of the judiciary, the minister said, "...we are
seriously concerned about it."
"Even the judiciary, the highest judiciary (supreme
court) in the country is very much worried and concerned about
it. After all it is ultimately a few handful black sheep, who
really tarnish the image, otherwise we have an excellent
judiciary in the country."
The minister, at the same time, disapproved of
painting the judiciary as a whole as bad, when asked whether
incidents like the PF scam undermine its image.
"One thing, we will have to consider seriously. Just a
few people are found guilty of corruption...we should not go
by perception. There should be hard facts and evidences.
Unless hard facts and evidences are available, painting the
judiciary as a whole as bad and bringing a bad name to the
institution is really bad," Moily said.
He also stressed on the need to be extra cautious and
careful while speaking on the judiciary.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 00:05