ALLAHABAD, July 29: Did an Additional District Judge ``purify'' his office with water from the Ganga because his predecessor was a Dalit?This question raised a storm in Parliament last week although the ``incident'' occurred one year ago and a subsequent probe conducted by a district judge found the charges baseless.However, the controversy has come alive once again and is now being linked to the transfer orders issued to Additional District Judge B Prasad who had alleged in June 1997 that his upper-caste successor Ashok Srivastava ``purified his office''.``Those allegations turned out to be baseless and fabricated,'' said District Judge B K Rathi who conducted the probe. He added that Prasad had categorically denied having made any such complaint.However, when contacted, Prasad told The Indian Express: ``My successor had washed the office after he took charge in June last year; maybe it was not with ganga jal but this point - that he washed his office with water - has been admittedby him.''Incidentally, Prasad was transferred to Mainpuri on July 3, 1998, a decision he has strongly opposed. ``I am undergoing treatment for a heart ailment and have been advised by doctors not to go to a place where there is no proper medical facility. Yet I had been transferred despite the fact that I remained here only for two years while a number of other judges remain on the post for four years,'' he said.His son, Sanjay Sonker, who is also a Samajwadi Party activist, said his father was being victimised only because he belongs to a Scheduled Caste. ``This clearly is the case of caste bias. There are no charges of corruption against him and he has also been advised by doctors but he has been deliberately transferred to Mainpuri,'' he said.On June 25, 1998, Prasad sent a note to the National Commission for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes alleging that he was being victimised on caste lines. ``Eight days after he sent the letter, my father was transferred. Isn't this a deliberate move?'' askshis son.But Srivastava, whom Prasad had accused of ``purifying'' his office says that while he did get the office ``washed'' with water it was because there was a lot of dirt and he is an asthmatic. ``This simple incident is being blown out of proportion and that too after one year,'' he said.``Had there been a casteist prejudice against Prasad why have four other officials belonging to his category not made similar complaints though all of them are posted in the same court?'' he said.
