New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday took suo motu cognizance of the "sad demise" of a judge who was allegedly mowed down in Dhanbad and sought a status report within a week from Jharkhand's Chief Secretary and the DGP on the investigation into the incident.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said the Jharkhand High Court would keep monitoring the probe. Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on Thursday said he has spoken to the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court to take up the case of the alleged murder of Dhanbad district and sessions judge Uttam Anand on Wednesday when he was out on morning walk.
The apex court said it has been taking suo motu cognizance of attacks on judicial officers and legal fraternity across country.
The bench, which also comprised Justice Surya Kant, issued notice to all the states and specifically sought the presence of Jharkhand Advocate General when it hears the case next week.
On Thursday, the top court said the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court has already taken up the matter related to the alleged killing of the judicial officer.
District and Sessions Judge-8 of Dhanbad court, Uttam Anand, was out on morning walk on Wednesday when he was killed by an auto-rickshaw at Randhir Verma Chowk near the district court in the Sadar police station area.
The Jharkhand government on Thursday informed the High Court that the investigation of the murder of additional District and sessions judge of Dhanbad,Uttam Anand will be conducted by a special investigation team led by the additional DG of police(operations), Sanjay Anand Lathkar.
The High Court had converted a report sent by the district and sessions judge of Dhanbad on the murder of his colleague into a writ petition and directed the government to ensure proper investigation of the case.