PF scam: CBI questions judges

NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court judge, three Allahabad High Court judges and one Uttarakhand High Court judge have been questioned by CBI in connection with the Ghaziabad PF scam. The investigating agency asked them if they had any links with Ashutosh Asthana, the main accused in the scam. The judges denied even knowing Asthana. Asthana during his interrogation had named 36 judges, who he claimed were beneficiaries of the scam. Earlier this year, the CBI had unearthed shocking details of how hard-earned provident fund savings of class III and IV employees of Ghaziabad courts were illegally spent on furniture, crockery, mobiles, gadgets, laptops, rail tickets, taxi fares and other luxury items for judges. These details figured in CBI's status report compiled after preliminary investigations into the Rs 23-crore PF scam, which involved questioning of a Supreme Court judge named by the prime accused, Ashutosh Asthana. The report shows that the district judges, who were heading the Ghaziabad judiciary during the scam period, not only made expensive purchases from the scam money, they also spent it on photography and video-recording of family functions and marriages. "About 500 strips of negatives of the photographs, one CD and two mini-video cassettes said to be related to functions of various members of the judiciary were recovered," CBI sources told TOI quoting from the status report, which is being compiled on the basis of the SC's September 23, 2008, order. It is not that these judges could not have afforded a mobile phone. But, as it came free, seldom did they flinch in accepting freebies provided by Asthana, courtesy the PF money of unsuspecting employees, the CBI found. "As per Asthana, he had provided about 60-70 mobile handsets to various members of judiciary," the agency said. The prime accused, who as the treasury officer was responsible for safeguarding the PF funds of employees, allegedly did not think twice about using that money to procure expensive furniture, crockery and utensils. Asthana also used the money to pay for transporting these goods to the residences of the judges. "Several invoices containing entries on trucks/vehicles provided in the last six years have about 35 entries related to Asthana, in which goods were sent to various judges of higher and subordinate judiciary," the CBI claimed. The trucks had an unbelievably smooth passage through states before reaching their destinations mainly because they carried judicial certificates. "Four original certificates, said to be issued by the chief judicial magistrate, Ghaziabad, certifying that the truck numbers mentioned in the certificate were carrying articles of members of judiciary, which were given to the truck driver for smooth passage of goods through several states, have also been recovered," it said. CBI also claimed to have recovered 28 bills of sale of crockery to Asthana and monogram of the District Judge, Ghaziabad, for the year 2006-07. It has also found that Asthana allegedly picked up 43 taxi bills of judges and paid it from the PF money. "About 540 assorted slips, bills, pieces of papers, sketches etc have been recovered from a carpenter. These relate to purchase of various raw materials for furniture items during last seven years," CBI said. The carpenter who made the furniture appears to have impressed the judges with his skill, for he was called to residences of judges with fresh orders and he answered these calls travelling with rail tickets purchased from the PF money. The agency suspects this carpenter was summoned to judges' residences far away from Ghaziabad -in Lucknow and Allahabad - as many as 17 times and his train tickets were allegedly bought from the PF money. The preliminary findings reflect the judges' weakness for electronic goods, especially mobile phones. "As many as 45 original bills have been seized from a Ghaziabad showroom denoting sale of many expensive electronic gadgets and appliances to various members of judiciary," the status report reveals. After a preliminary probe that tracked Asthana's mobile call details, the CBI chanced upon purchase of four laptops, miscellaneous computer peripherals including monitors, CPUs, cameras and printers. The probe was entrusted to CBI by the apex court after the UP police, which first investigated the matter, chickened out terming the task of investigating 35 judges as daunting.

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