Chief Justice Dipankar Datta of the Bombay High Court recused himself from hearing the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) challenging the appointment of Subodh Jaiswal as Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
CJ Datta on Thursday said that a letter was written by the petitioner to the Chief Justice of India.
"A letter has been written to the Chief Justice of India against me. So we will place this matter before another bench," said CJ Datta.
Retired ACP Rajendrakumar Trivedi seeking Jaiswal’s removal on the ground that he does not possess experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases and has doubtful credibility. The PIL also questioned Jaiswal's credibility when he was heading a special investigation committee for investigating the scam of fake and counterfeit stamps involving Abdul Karim Telgi and several police officials.
Satish Takekar, counsel for Trivedi, however, said that Trivedi had not written the letter. Trivedi, who was also present in the court, assured the court that he has not written any such letter.
Talekar said that Trivedi was ready to file an affidavit stating the same. "My client (Trivedi) has not written any such letter. It was they (respondents) who wanted another bench," said Talekar.
However, CJ Datta insisted that it was better if the PIL was heard by another bench.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Central government, said that it has often complaints are made when people don't get reliefs from courts.
"It has become frequent, that when people do not get relief, they write such letters," said Singh.
"Very easy for someone to write a letter and tarnish someone’s image," added CJ Datta while recusing himself from the matter.
The PIL will be listed for hearing before another bench in due course of time.
This comes on the day when Justoce DY Chandrachud of Supreme Court expressed his anguish at the recent of targeting and attributing motives to judges.
"Give us judges a break. I was down with Covid and hence, the matter was deferred. I read in the news that judges are not taking it up. There is a limit to targeting us," he said.
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