Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) Opposition MPs have demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh make a statement in parliament on the “misconduct” of a union minister who allegedly tried to influence a Madras High Court judge.
Around 200 MPs from the opposition, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Left parties, AIADMK and Janata Dal-United (JD-U), have also urged the prime minister to order an inquiry in the case as the judge said in an open court that a union minister had telephoned him in a matter concerning a marksheet forgery case.

The MPs from both houses of parliament would submit a joint memorandum to Manmohan Singh about this.

On June 30, Justice R. Reghupathi of the Madras High Court stunned everyone while hearing an anticipatory bail petition of S. Kiruba Shridhar, a student in a private medical college of Puducherry, and his father C. Krishnamurthy, saying a union minister had asked him to give bail to the two accused.

“Various opposition political parties are in the process of collecting the signatures of their MPs. We have already signed the letter. It is expected to be submitted to the prime minister in a day or two,” said Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP A. Sampath.

The judge had threatened to complain to the central government and the prime minister about the union minister’s interference but he had so far not named the minister.

AIADMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalitha had alleged that the said minister was IT and Communication Minister A. Raja.

“According to reports, the judge has subsequently ‘clarified’ that the minister had not spoken to him directly but that the advocate of the accused had come to his chamber and informed him that the union minister would like to speak to him and even dialled the number to facilitate the conversation,” the MPs said in the memorandum.

“Assuming this ‘clarification’ to be correct, it is still an attempt to interfere in the judicial process by the said minister. If, on the other hand, the lawyer was bluffing, it calls for the most severe action against him,” said the memorandum.

These facts could be verified from the oral testimonies as also from the circumstances, the letter states.

The MPs asked the prime minister to probe whether the lawyer was known to the minister and whether he made a call to the minister from the judge’s chamber.

“These facts will bring out the truth,” they said.

“In either case, in the interests of upholding the principles of independence of the judiciary enshrined in the Constitution as well as highest standards of probity in public life, the people of the country do expect you to act in the matter,” the memorandum says.

Sources said senior MPs including Arun Jaitley, Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury have signed the memorandum.