Can’t tell graft accused who whistleblower is: SC

Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN 

New Delhi: In what is sure to encourage whistleblowers, the Supreme Court has ruled that identity of persons who tip off anti-corruption agencies about corrupt deals of bureaucrats can never be revealed to the accused facing prosecution under Prevention of Corruption Act. Anti-Corruption Bureau of Maharashtra had investigated a case of disproportionate assets against a public servant on the basis of a complaint filed by “unknown person” and chargesheeted the accused. The accused wanted a copy of the original complaint on the ground that it was essential for a fair trial. 
    Rejecting his plea, an apex court bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and A K Sikri said it failed to see how the accused was prejudiced by non-disclosure of the name of the person who sent the complaint and the original copy of the complaint received by the ACB. 
    “Situations are many where certain persons do not want to disclose the identity as well as the information/complaint passed on by them to the ACB. If the names of the persons, as well as the copy of the complaint sent by them are disclosed, that may cause embarrassment to them and sometimes threat to their lives,” said Justice Radhakrishnan, who authored the judgment for the bench. 
    The bench said what is to be borne in mind is that it was a complaint given by some person to the ACB which triggered the investigation. “Thus, this complaint simply provided information to the ACB and is not the foundation of the case or even the FIR,” it said. 


Name-lending lawyers turned noble profession into cheating, says SC New Delhi: The SC on Thursday found that the advocate-onrecord system it had devised nearly 50 years ago to ensure efficient legal assistance to litigants and judges was getting “converted into a profession of cheating”. A bench of Justices B S Chauhan and S A Bobde found an advocate-on-record filing a large number of cases yet not being in court when the case was called for hearing. The apex court was told that a section of advocates-on-record has made it a habit to lend their name to the petition for filing purposes. TNN


Source:::: The Times of India, 23-08-2013, p.18, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW