JOIN USCorrupt babus sit on criminal case files
The nexus between criminals and court employees was exposed in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district, about 30 km from here, when it was found that the corrupt babus had been sitting on more than 23,000 case files pertaining to heinous crimes. This resulted in these cases being not listed for hearing for the past over 15 years. While the aggrieved complainants continued to run from pillar to post and make rounds of the court in the hope of getting justice without realising that it may never be done, the offenders, who included accused facing rape charges, abductions, murder and dacoity roamed about freely, making a mockery of the judicial process and the rule of law.
The accused who benefited from the nexus included many politicians and government employees, charged with corrupt practices, besides hard-core criminals.
The court employees had allegedly locked the case files in the almirahs and conveniently forgotten about them (of course for monetary considerations).
“The locks had not been opened even once in the past one and half decade,” said an official of the court.
The dangerous nexus came to light on Tuesday when the district judge of Barabanki directed opening of the locks of the almirahs. “Little did he imagine that he would come across such a huge number of pending case files gathering dust,” the official said.
A shocked judge immediately ordered an inquiry into the matter.
Initial investigation suggested that over a hundred employees of the court might have been involved in the act. Some have even retired from the service.
Acting swiftly, the district judge ordered suspension of a dozen employees and terminated the services of two others. “As many as 134 court babus are suspected to be involved in the matter,” the officials said. The judge has also directed issuance of summons afresh and warrants in all such cases in a bid to bring the alleged culprits to book.
There are over 5.6 million pending cases in the lower courts in Uttar Pradesh. Many of these cases have been pending for several decades.