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The three-member in-house committee is set to resume its probe into allegations of abuse of power leveled against two sitting judges of Orissa High Court, namely Justice Indrajit Mohanty and Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo. The three-member in-house committee headed by Justice S.J Vazifdar, Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court includes Justice T. Vaiphei, Chief Justice of Tripura High Court and Justice Arun Tandon, Judge of Allahabad High Court. Former Chief Justice of India Justice T.S Thakur, while acting on complaints filed by Mr. Das and Dr. Aditya Prasad Mishra had constituted an in-house committee to investigate the allegations against Justice Mohanty. He has been alleged to have obtained bank loans to run his Hotel business in Cuttack. As per complaint filed by Mr. Das and Dr. Aditya Mishra in 2009, he allegedly availed a loan to the tune of Rs 2.5 Crore from State Bank of India to run his hotel business.
This very conduct allegedly goes against the code of ethics for the judges. The complaint against Justice Sahoo says that prior to being a judge of Orissa High Court, in his capacity as an Additional Judge he had allegedly misused funds to renovate his bungalow beyond his entitlement. The complainant Mr. Das who is currently in Puri Jail had made a representation before the Superintendent of Police, seeking permission to attend meetings of the committee through video conferencing. In another letter, he had requested the Registrar General of Orissa High Court to instruct the Orissa Police to abstain from handcuffing him. Justice Vazifdar’s letter now asks him to “take necessary steps” to appear before the committee. The inquiry against these judges was stalled after the name of a senior Supreme Court Judge popped up. Baffled at such development the committee had written to then CJI Justice Khehar seeking his guidance on this issue. However, Justice Khehar had not taken any steps on the committee’s representation. This had prompted Mr. Das to write another matter to address the question that whether the Indian Judiciary is trying to overshadow the illegal activities by Justice Mohanty, given the fact that this question has due relevance about public confidence in the judiciary.
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