O P Saini's journey: From law enforcer to judge

Special CBI court Judge O P Saini, who gave relief to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram by dismissing a petition to make him a co-accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case, is known for his tough stance when it comes to delivering justice.

Be it imposition of sections like criminal breach of public trust or denying bail to 2G scam accused, special Judge Saini so far seemed to have been accepting the prosecution's case in the 2G scam.

But, the order he passed in Chidamabaram’s case on Saturday dismissed all the anticipations and sent a clear message across the board that his Court, while deciding any matter, would only rely on facts and materials available on record, not the public perception and media hype created around.

In November last year, when it was widely believed that Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, would get bail on grounds of being a woman, Judge Saini rejected her bail petition observing that she was a powerful politician and witnesses could get intimidated if she was not in custody during the trial.

Judge Saini started his career as a Delhi Police sub-inspector in 1981 and shot into fame as a special POTA judge after delivering the Red Fort shoot-out case judgement where the main accused was sentenced to death.

Described in legal fraternity as a “soft-spoken” person, Judge Saini is known to act tough even with the press if he finds that the decorum of the court was not being maintained.

Once, he even asked the journalists using cellphones during hearings to to behave as per the court’s decorum or else they would be asked to leave.

Saini, 57, was chosen to try the 2G case exclusively following the direction by the apex court.

He had earlier also dealt with corruption cases, and denied the bail to suspended Nalco chairman AK Srivastava, an accused in a bribery case.
According to lawyers, he was the lone candidate selected in a batch in Delhi Judicial Services examination held some two decades back, which speaks of his talents.

During the hearing in the 2G case, Saini had shown different aspects of his personality by being tough and soft at the same time. Being a reticent person, he rarely smiled during the hearings. As the high-profile accused like A Raja and corporate bigwigs were brought into his courtroom, he never failed to allow them seats.

A strict disciplinarian, he once gave a stern warning to family members of one of the coporate honchos then arrested in the 2G case to avoid talking among themselves, as it created disturbance and affected the court proceedings.