3 HC judges used staff PF to buy groceries, pay beauty bills

NEW DELHI: Six district judges, three of whom later became Allahabad High Court judges, seldom spent on grocery and vegetables as everything, including beauty treatment of their family members, was paid through money illegally withdrawn from the PF accounts of class III and IV employees of Ghaziabad district court.

The tenure of three former HC judges — Justices A K Singh, R P Yadav and R N Mishra — as district judge of Ghaziabad between January 14, 2003 and November 19, 2006, saw them sanction fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 2.73 crore from PF accounts in collusion with then treasury officer Ashutosh Asthana.

The CBI made a detailed inquiry into their spending habits and tracked the money spent to the PF money of the employees. It gave details to the Supreme Court on Wednesday in an affidavit filed through counsel Chinmoy Sharma and T A Khan. The charges against each judge were:

‘‘ Justice Yadav obtained monthly ration and other requirements of vegetables, fruits and other eatable items, gold jewellery, crockery, clothes from Asthana for himself and his family members, which were procured from the proceeds of the crime. He also got furniture items prepared at his residence in Ghaziabad and got wood work worth Rs 1-1 .50 lakh done at the Allahabad residence of his son Nikhil Yadav.’’