Recently,
a
UNDP
report
on
corruption
ranked
India
the
seventh
most
corrupt
nation
in
the
world
and
we
are
climbing
up
the
ladder
since
then!
Isn’t
it
a
matter
of
concern
?
-
certainly
yes,
for
the
masses
who
pay
their
hard-earned
money
as
taxes
to
the
Government,
not
for
the
bureaucrats
and
politicians
and
certainly
not
for
the
hon’ble
judiciary
-
who
could
have
guided
this
nation
to
a
corruption-free
path.
But
what
happens
when
all
the
three
wings
of
the
polity
combine
together
and
go
all
out
to
work
against
the
state
to
provide
illegal
material
benefits
to
someone
so
close
to
the
head
of
one
of
the
wings
of
the
political
system
in
the
largest
democracy
of
the
world.
The
story
begins
from
a
remote
area
of
Madhya
Pradesh,
a
village
called
Piprod
in
Guna
district.
The
wife
of
hon’ble
CJI
Justice
A.S.Anand,
Mrs.
Mala
Anand
originally
belonged
to
Gwalior
in
M.P.
Her
father
and
grandfather
were
high
ranked
army
officials
and
they
had
ancestral
land
in
village
Piprod.
In
the
year
1951,
her
father
Major
General
Yadunath
Singh
&
grandfather
Major
General
Girdhari
Singh
managed
to
get
47.847
hectares
of
govt.
land
allotted
to
them.
After
the
death
of
these
two
gentlemen,
their
sole
heir
Mrs.
Sushila
Singh,
mother-in-law
of
Dr.
Anand
was
asked
to
pay
the
land
revenue.
When
she
failed
to
pay
the
revenue,
the
land
was
taken
back
by
govt.
on
25-7-1973
under
the
provisions
of
M.P.
Land
Revenue
Code.
Dr.Anand,
her
son-in-law
was
at
that
time
a
practising
lawyer
in
Punjab
&
Haryana
High
Court.
As
Mrs.
Singh
held
62.24
acres
of
land
in
her
name
besides
this
47.847
hectares
and
lawyer
Anand
being
familiar
with
land
ceiling
laws,
they
didn’t
oppose
the
reversion
of
this
land
to
govt.
because
in
any
case,
this
land
would
have
gone
back
to
the
govt.
under
the
ceiling
laws.
Subsequently
this
land
was
allotted
to
M.P.
Seed
&
Farm
Development
Corporation,
a
body
owned
by
M.P.
Govt.
and
it
is
still
in
possession
of
the
Corporation.
Later
on,
Dr.
A.S.
Anand
became
a
High
Court
Judge
and
was
subsequently
elevated
to
the
hon’ble
Supreme
Court.
All
the
lands
under
the
name
of
Mrs.
Singh
were
sold
to
her
relatives
in
Guna
district
so
that
ceiling
laws
should
not
become
a
barrier
in
their
future
plans.
Then
in
the
year
1993,
after
almost
20
years,
Mrs.
Anand
&
Mrs.
Singh
instituted
a
civil
suit
(copy
with
Kalchakra)
in
the
court
of
Civil
Judge
Class
II
at
Chanderi
in
Guna
district
claiming
the
action
of
reversion
of
land
to
govt.
on
25.7.73
as
illegal.
Their
contention
was
that
the
action
by
govt.
was
done
without
their
knowledge.
Is
it
really
possible
that
the
owner
of
such
a
huge
tract
of
land
did
not
know
that
his
land
was
being
used
by
someone
else
since
last
20
years
?
They
suppressed
the
fact
that
the
revenue
official
deciding
their
case
in
1973
(Naib-tehsildar)
had
informed
them
by
registered
letter
and
in
fact,
had
given
them
opportunity
to
represent
before
actually
taking
over
the
land.
The
records
contain
the
acknowledgment
of
registered
letter
as
well
as
a
reply
from
none
other
but
Mrs.
Singh
herself
requesting
the
naib-tehsildar
to
grant
some
time
for
payment
of
revenue.
Mysteriously,
the
Judge
believed
them
and
didn’t
bother
to
look
into
the
records
though
it
had
been
presented
to
him.
The
claim
of
Mrs.
Anand
&
her
mother
was
that
the
revenue
official
did
not
try
to
inform
them
(para
7
of
the
civil
suit).
They
further
claimed
that
the
institution
of
revenue
case
18
B25/73-74
was
not
in
their
knowledge
and
they
came
to
know
about
this
case
only
on
25-3-89
when
her
mother
actually
saw
the
state
possession
(para
8,
of
the
civil
suit).
The
best
option
for
the
judge
was
to
go
through
the
revenue
case
mentioned
above
and
the
case
file
was
before
him.
If
he
would
have
done
that,
he
would
certainly
have
found
out
the
noting
by
Naib-tehsildar
made
on
12-1-72
(copy
of
the
proceedings
with
Kalchakra)
which
says
that
registered
letter
should
be
sent
at
Murar
(Gwalior)
address
or
the
noting
on
1-3-73
which
says
that
"letter
issued,
reply
received
as
well.
But
the
money
(land
revenue)
has
not
been
deposited
so
far".
The
land
was
subsequently
reverted
to
govt.
on
25-7-73.
Why
the
Judge
failed
to
notice
these
two
notings
or
rather
chose
to
overlook
these
two
notings
is
inexplicable.
But
the
suppression
of
fact
regarding
ignorance
of
the
previous
case
in
1973
by
the
two
ladies
is
obvious.
Another
strange
aspect
of
this
case
is
a
direction
by
the
hon’ble
High
Court
of
M.P.
issued
on
12.1.95
(copy
with
Kalchakra).
The
order
says
that
the
case
is
an
old
one
and
hence
should
be
decided
within
six
months!
The
suit
had
been
instituted
on
27-2-93.
It
is
a
well
known
fact
that
the
judicial
process
in
our
country
is
very
slow
and
it
takes
years
to
decide
a
case.
What
prompted
the
hon’ble
High
Court
to
issue
such
directions
for
a
case
which
was
only
two
years
old
is
another
mystery
!
The
hearings
afterwards
were
quite
smooth.
The
court
granted
the
two
ladies
special
favour
by
recording
their
statements
in
their
residence
at
10,
Tuglaq
Road,
New
Delhi
instead
of
the
court
room.
The
outcome
of
the
case
was
obvious.
The
court
adjudged
the
proceedings
of
the
revenue
official
as
null
and
void
on
the
ground
of
non-information
to
the
interested
parties
and
violation
of
natural
justice
i.e.
opportunity
of
hearing
not
given.
The
decree
was
granted
on
17-9-96
directing
the
non-applicants
i.e.
the
state
govt.
to
either
give
equal
amount
of
land
or
appropriate
compensation
(copy
with
Kalchakra).
The
Corporation
went
in
appeal
before
the
Additional
District
Judge
(ADJ).
The
ADJ
was
very
prompt
in
deciding
the
case
as
he
dismissed
the
appeal
in
just
14
months
on
15-12-97
(copy
with
Kalchakra).
The
state
govt.
presented
the
second
appeal
on
9-1-98
in
the
hon’ble
High
Court,
but
the
hon’ble
High
Court
was
even
more
prompt
in
deciding
this
case.
Mr.Justice
AS
Tripathi
dismissed
the
second
appeal
on
18-3-98
through
a
cryptic
order
within
two
months.
Sh
R.A.
Raman
was
the
govt.
advocate
while
Sh.
KK
Lahoti
advocate
represented
Mrs.Anand
!!
The
State
govt.
presented
an
SLP
in
the
hon’ble
Supreme
Court.
This
was
a
bit
tricky
as
the
matter
could
have
gone
to
any
hon’ble
Judge
and
knowledge
to
other
hon’ble
Judges
of
the
Apex
Court
might
have
created
problems.
So
pressure
was
put
on
State
govt.
through
the
Principal
Secretary,
Law
&
Legal
Affairs,
Govt.
of
M.P.
who
happened
to
be
an
officer
from
Judicial
Service.
On
his
recommendations,
the
SLP
was
withdrawn
from
the
Supreme
Court
on
18-8-98
!!!
Thus
the
wife
of
the
hon’ble
CJI
was
able
so
far
to
get
a
final
order
in
her
favour.
Once
the
order
became
final,
she
claimed
for
a
compensation
at
the
rate
of
Rs.2,58,372/-
per
hectare.
The
total
compensation
claimed
is
Rs.
1.24
crore.
The
matter
didn’t
end
here.
As
the
state
govt.
was
not
coming
forward
to
pay
the
compensation
and
the
lady
didn’t
want
to
claim
through
the
judicial
procedure
because
it
would
have
given
a
wide
publicity
to
this
case,
again
pressure
was
created
through
the
Principal
Secretary
(law),
Mr.S.S.Sarraf
to
pay
the
compensation.
A
meeting
was
called
by
none
other
but
the
Chief
Minister
of
M.P.
himself
on
10-2-99.
It
was
attended
by
the
high
officials
of
the
state
including
the
Chief
Secretary.
The
decision
was
made
in
the
meeting
to
give
equivalent
amount
of
land
to
the
two
ladies
-
the
wife
&
the
mother-in-law
of
the
hon’ble
CJI.
The
process
of
land
transfer
is
on
through
the
Collector
of
Guna.
Thus
the
wife
and
the
Mother-in-law
of
the
hon’ble
CJI
has
so
far
been
able
to
get
orders
in
their
favour
by
suppressing
the
facts
known
to
them.
Certain
facts
of
the
case
are
a
definite
indication
of
misuse
of
power
for
personal
gains.
The
questions
which
create
substantial
doubts
are
-
