Power of an accused should not influence judge: Cunha

Power of an accused should not influence judge: Cunha

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.05.2021 

“Judges should not be influenced by powerful personalities accused of corruption. They should go only by the cause and evidence,” said former judge of Karnataka high court Justice John Michael Cunha. It was Justice Cunha’s judgment delivered on September 27, 2014, that sent the then Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and her three associates to jail in a corruption case.

Addressing a webinar organised by Chennai-based advocate J Ravindran on Wednesday, Cunha slammed attempts to dilute the Prevention of Corruption Act through amendments introduced in 2013. “We are fortunate that the Prevention of Corruption Act is not repealed, as all the substantive provisions of the Act had been modified through amendments brought in 2013,” Cunha said. The judge was delivering a lecture on amendments to the Act.

Such amendments have given double protection to public servants against probe and prosecution, and have made prior sanction from the state mandatory for investigations, he said, adding, “this goes against the findings of the Supreme Court.” Through the amendments, an effort has been made to protect, rather overprotect public servants or hijack the investigation itself, to dilute the entire investigation, Justice Cunha said.

Answering a question as to how judges maintain balance while deciding cases under the Act, as most of the accused would be people with political power and influence, Justice Cunha said the moment the judges are influenced, the judgment will be biased and perverse.