Anurag Kumar
The Panchkula special CBI judge Sudhir Parmar, whose official domicile was raided by the Haryana anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on April 18 morning, was suspended by the Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday.
On the basis of a putative audio recording, Parmar, who is the subject of an ACB investigation, was questioned at his Panchkula home last week. The investigators also questioned a few of his relatives in Gurugram and a property developer. Rajeev Goyal, an additional and district sessions judge for the special commercial court in Gurugram, replaced Parmar as the special CBI judge for Panchkula on Thursday.
In November 2021, Parmar was appointed as a special CBI judge. In addition to hearing Haryana CBI cases, he also presided over Enforcement Directorate cases in the state. He was presiding over the state’s designated CBI and ED tribunals. Typically, judicial officers serve for three years. Parmar could not be reached for comment.
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Presided over the Manesar property fraud and AJL case
As a special CBI judge, Parmar presided over the trials of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, several former IAS officers, and real estate developers in the Manesar land scandal and AJL case. Unknown at this time is whether the ACB has uncovered any evidence regarding trial manipulation.
However, the CBI has not named the former chief minister in a chargesheet lodged in a 2009 case involving the release of approximately 95% of 1,407 acres of acquired land in Gurugram. In January 2019, a case was filed against Hooda, an official, and fifteen real estate developers. The investigation was mandated by the Supreme Court.
The ACB obtained permission to interrogate the special CBI judge from the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court. Subsequently, the HC lodged an interlocutory application with the Supreme Court, requesting permission to transfer Parmar.
On April 25, a division led by the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, ordered that the interlocutory application be taken into account when it is mentioned. “The Punjab and Haryana High Court has filed this interlocutory application for permission to reassign a judge. “The interlocutory application is granted by allowing the HC to transfer the judicial officer,” said the Supreme Court bench, which is monitoring the progression of cases against members of Congress and legislative bodies.
In October 2022, the Supreme Court instructed the high courts that if transfers of judicial officers presiding over special courts and CBI courts involving prosecution of MPs and MLAs were required for any reason (other than in the normal course of transfer at the end of the tenure), the Supreme Court’s permission would be required.
