Ex-CJI knew Raja had tried to influence judge: SC justice

In an embarrassment to former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, Supreme Court Judge H L Gokhale today contradicted his claim that he was not aware former Union Telecom Minister A Raja had tried to influence a Madras High Court judge in a criminal case.



In a statement, Justice Gokhale, who was the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court at that time, said in his letter to Justice Balakrishnan -- the then CJI -- he had clearly mentioned the name of Raja.
Justice Gokhale's statement totally contradicts Justice Balakrishnan's claim that there was no mention of any Union Minister in the report sent by Justice Gokhale, then High Court Chief Justice, on the Justice S Reghupathi episode.
"I regret to say that the allegations are absolutely incorrect," Balakrishan had said last week on news reports that he had suppressed a letter purportedly written by Justice Reghupathi to him when he was Chief Justice of India.