An order of suspension against a Bihar Additional Sessions Judge issued by the Patna High Court in February of this year, 2022, has been appealed to the Supreme Court.
Senior Attorney Vikas Singh brought up the issue on Wednesday before a Bench chaired by Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana, who consented to list it.
Shashikant Rai, a special POCSO judge for the Araria district, said that the sole reason to take action against him was because he questioned the new assessment mechanism in place for district judicial appointments.
The petitioner-judge had written to the High Court requesting that it take into account restoring seniority as a foundation for such elevations following several rounds of non-consideration for promotion as a civil judge (senior division).
“The Hon’ble High Court, merely for questioning the process of evaluating judgments, immediately issued show cause notice to the Petitioner and later suspended him without giving any reasons,” it was argued. As a result, the court violated its constitutional duty to protect and guide judicial officers.
It’s interesting to note that the petitioner had, in November 2021, after just one day of hearings, found a guy guilty of sexually assaulting a kid and sentenced him to life in prison.
Rai said that after issuing the order, he got death threats in his argument before the highest court.
The argument was made in the plea submitted through attorney Nitin Saluja. “Institutional bias against the petitioner as the judgments of the petitioner in Spl. POCSO Case No. 01/2022 giving capital punishment to accused Md. Major in four working days of trial and in Spl. POCSO Case No. 36/2021 giving punishment of life imprisonment in one working day of trial had caught immense media attention and was widely reported and appreciated by the government as well as by the public,” it was stated.
Additionally, it was noted that the suspension order and ongoing disciplinary procedures against him did not specify a basis for them and caused him mental anguish “as he stands condemned for an activity that otherwise won the State’s acclaim.”
Furthermore, his suspension should have been lifted by now in accordance with Rule 6 (7) of the Bihar Judicial Service (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules of 2020 as no charge sheet has yet been established.
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