‘Favourable’ judgments and a dozen air-conditioners

After three months of tapping phones of the suspects, the FIR in the DDA scam was registered on March 26. In the dock with Sharma and sacked Delhi constable-turned-middleman Khattar were commissioner, lands, Anand Mohan Sharan and commissioner, planning, Vijay Risbud. Raids followed thereafter at each of the accuseds’ residences, and the CBI hit pay-dirt when they caught suspended DDA employee Ashok Kapoor with five Delhi High Court files tagged with Mukherjee’s name outside Khattar’s Jungpura office. On questioning, Kapoor revealed he had been asked to deliver the files to Mukherjee’s residence. Alongwith the files was an February 20-dated unsigned order in a civil suit pending before Mukherjee.

The raid on Mukherjee came a month later, on April 30, and he was under arrest by the late evening. Charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the FIR against him reads, ‘‘Dharamveer Khattar used to act as a conduit between Justice Mukherjee and various private parties who wanted their pending cases before his court to be settled favourably.’’

The CBI put forward two cases — Azad Singh versus DDA and Bimla Chaudhary versus DDA — as instances of judicial cases being decided by private parties. Hotelier Vinod Khatri had interests in both cases as the owner of a restaurant and other property on Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, which the DDA wanted to broaden. Khatri allegedly approached Khattar, who, in turn, sounded out Mukherjee, before whom the cases were pending. The unsigned order seized from Kapoor related to these cases.

The tip-offs came from the CBI’s January-March tabs on the accuseds’ phone conversations. Khattar, for instance, was heard assuring Khatri that the ‘‘needful’’ would be done on the cases. The CBI also heard Mukherjee asking Khattar to have ‘‘another two tonne’’ AC delivered to his home.

According to the CBI, Mukherjee also asked Khattar to have DDA counsel Geeta Mittal — who was putting up a strong case for the Authority — replaced in the case. Khattar reportedly tapped Sharma, who complied immediately.

Even as the CBI was chasing DDA officers, tracking the absconding Khattar and slapping three FIRs on businessmen and conniving officers, Mukherjee resigned as judge on March 31. His excuse of his wife’s long-term illness notwithstanding, speculation concluded that it was his involvement in the DDA scam that had forced his hand. Within a week of quitting, Mukherjee wanted to take back the papers, but on April 16, the Ministry of Law notified his resignation.

The CBI is also convinced about the ‘‘wine and women’’ angle against Mukherjee. A lady lawyer was initially interrogated by the CBI in this connection, but more conclusive was the May 9 raid on one Narendra Malhotra at his East of Kailash residence. Diary entries revealed that Malhotra supplied women to Khattar, who passed them on to Mukherjee.

Interestingly, though the CBI may seem to be smelling of roses right now, barely three weeks ago, Special Judge Prem Kumar (who is hearing the case) ticked off the agency for ‘‘selective investigation’’.

Eyebrows were also raised when Mukherjee, then in CBI custody, was granted interim bail by the High Court. The Supreme Court later clarified this to be ‘‘interim bail only after expiry of police custody’’. With two days remaining for expiry of his police remand, CBI did not seek for further custody; Mukherjee is out on interim bail till June 12.