Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance of alleged killing of Dhanbad judge, seeks report from Jharkhand DGP

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday took suo motu cognizance of the alleged killing of an Additional District Judge from Dhanbad, Uttam Anand. 

The top court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ramana took suo motu cognizance of the issue and said it had come across many instances of attacks on judicial officers and lawyers, and wanted to address the 'safety and security' of the judicial officers in India. 

Supreme Court takes suo motu cognizance of the alleged killing of Additional District Judge from Dhanbad, Jharkhand pic.twitter.com/eqOUjos88j — ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2021

It also issued a notice to all states directing them to ensure the safety of judges.

SC said that this court wants to address the safety & security of judicial officers in the country — ANI (@ANI) July 30, 2021

“Jharkhand High Court will keep monitoring probe into alleged mowing down of Dhanbad judge,” the SC bench said in its order. The top court also sought a detailed report from Jharkhand Chief Secretary and DGP within a week about the alleged killing of the judge.

The Dhanbad judge was on his morning jog when he was hit by an auto-rickshaw and left to die. He was reportedly dealing with many high-profile criminal cases in Jharkhand. It is suspected that he was allegedly murdered.

Meanwhile, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up under the Additional Director General of Police (ADG) to probe the death of the Dhanbad judge.

Two people - including the driver of the vehicle, Lakhan Verma, and his associate, Rahul Verma – have been arrested in connection with the case. The family of the judge, on the other hand, has called his death "planned murder" and demanded a CBI probe into the matter.