The Brave Pedestrian

30 th August, 2016, Cuttack: Is it OK if our sitting judges become businessmen? If our judges become hoteliers and owners of dance-bars, etc. while serving, can they maintain judge-like attitude? Can they command the respect and awe of Indian citizens, government and various administrative bodies? These aren't hypothetical questions; JusticeIndrajit Mahanty , a senior judge of Orissa High Court since 2006, became a hotelier in 2009, the proud owner of the The Triple-C Hotel in Cuttack, which boasts a dance-bar . In his own name and from his own bank accounts, Justice I. Mahanty has taken a Rs. 2.5 crore business loan from State Bank of India for this hotel. Although a private limited company named Latest Generation Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. was formed for managing the hotel, the working capital for the hotel was borrowed by (and is being repaid by) Justice Indrajit Mahanty in his personal capacity. For building the ground-plus-four storey building, Justice I. Mahanty in his own...

7 April 2015, India: OK, here’s a question: Can you and I make a profit of about Rs 90 lakh by selling a plot of government land before it is transferred to us? Can we sell it to a known crook and swindler at the height of his career? Answer: If we are common people, then no. But if we are high court judges, then yes, we can not only do it, but we can also be elevated to the position of a Chief Justice! Come, let us learn from Justice Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra, Chief Justice Of Manipur, how it is done. Like all our High Court and Supreme Court judges, Justice Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra ( http://hcmimphal.nic.in/judges.html ) is immune to the laws of the land. When he was a High Court judge in Odisha, Mr. Mohapatra accepted a bribe of about Rs 90 lakh through a shady land deal with a chit-fund fraudster named Pradeep Sethy ( http://tinyurl.com/pradeep-sethy ), whose Artha Tatwa Chit Fund scam in Odisha was estimated by Supreme Court to be Rs 4,600 crore – roughly twice the size of...