DHARMAPURI : Former Additional District Judge of Dharmapuri, R Anburaj who is now serving as Chairman, Permanent Lok Adalat, Tiruvarur was handed over orders to be compulsorily retired from service on Monday.
This comes almost a year after the Madras HC ordered the judge be sacked after an inquiry report said that the judge granted bail in an ‘unusual’ manner to a doctor arrested for alleged involvement in a kidney racket.
The case pertains to the arrest of nephrologist Dr M Ganesan of Salem for his alleged involvement in kidney trade in 2013. Dharmapuri police registered an FIR and arrested the doctor based on a complaint from A Kathavarayan of Kamarajpet in Pennagaram, who claimed that the doctor and his associates took money for arranging a kidney for his father.
According to him, he had reportedly given `1 lakh to the doctor and without performing surgery, the doctor returned half the amount.
Three months after discharge, the patient died. District Crime Branch, Dharmapuri, took up the case invoked provisions under Section 19 of Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994.
The accused filed a bail plea before the Pennagaram Judicial Magistrate on June 21, 2013 which was dismissed, following which he moved the District Court, Dharmapuri.
The Principal District and Sessions Judge (PDJ) S Vanangamudy posted the matter for hearing on June 25, 2013, and went on leave for two days. R Anburaj, the Additional District Judge, who filled in for Vanangamudy, took up the bail plea on June 24 and granted him bail. On his July 18, 2013, Vanangamudy mentioned that the interim bail by in-charge judge was not legally sustainable.
The matter was taken up for inquiry by the Registrar (Vigilance) of Madras High Court and Public Prosecutor G Asokan, in a statement, expressed his surprise about the unusualness in taking up the bail petition which was not in the cause list for the day, according to sources. In April, last year, a bench led by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul ordered R Anburaj be compulsorily retired from service. R Anburaj was relieved on forenoon on Tuesday (March 7).