Union Minister tried to influence me, says HC judge

In a startling revelation, a Madras High Court judge told an open court that a Union Minister sought to influence him to grant anticipatory bail to a doctor and his son in a forged mark sheets case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

An agitated Justice R Reghupathy on Monday evening said, "A Union Minister talked to me and sought to influence me to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioners."

Justice Reghupathy made the remarks when the advocate, appearing for S Kirub Shridhar, a third year student in a private medical college in Puducherry, and his doctor father Krishnamoorthy, complained that the judge was not granting bail to his clients on the basis of prosecution submissions.

The advocate's remarks came when the judge said he was not inclined to grant any relief as their pleas had been rejected by him on June 15 itself.

"Union Minister talked to me about the matter. You yourself know every thing. Unless an unconditional apology is tendered by you, I will incorporate every detail in my order," said Justice Reghupathy.

Justice Reghupathy said he would also be writing to the Prime Minister on the "pressure exerted" on him. The judge, however, did not name the minister.

The CBI had filed a case against the father-son duo for allegedly using the services of a Puducherry University official and a middle man to inflate the marks of Shridhar.