Greeva Garg –
Published on: August 12, 2021, at 09:38 IST
The Punjab and Haryana High Court reprimanded an Additional Sessions Judge, Contempt of Court notice has been issued for ‘grave judicial indiscipline warranting disciplinary action’.
Justice Manoj Bajaj has directed to place the matter before the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice through the Registrar General for issuing of further Administrative Orders.
The castigation by Justice Bajaj was ordered, while the Court was hearing a matter from a resident who had challenged the Additional Sessions Judge’s order of granting Anticipatory Protection to these persons who were declared proclaimed offenders in July 2019 in a 2013 FIR.
An FIR was registered in November 2013 for Sexual Offences in Nagina Police Station, Mewat by a resident.
After the FIR, police filed a cancellation report to which the petitioner filed a protest petition.
Justice Bajaj asserted that the trial proceedings were very much within the knowledge of the respondents initially summoned by Trial Court for July 21, 2017.
The respondents also contested a revision petition filed by the petitioner-complainant.
The accused continued to remain absent from the trial proceedings and made an attempt at pre-arrest bail.
However, the Additional Sessions Judge extended Interim concession to the proclaimed persons.
Acting on a plea challenging the order, the High Court remanded the matter back to the Judge with a direction to consider and deal with the petitioner’s contentions.
The Judge confirmed Anticipatory Bails of accused persons.
Justice Bajaj observed that “The impugned order made it clear that the Judge exercised discretion in favour of the accused without dealing with the objections raised by the State Counsel. The officer passed the order without examining maintainability or merits of the application, the law on the subject and objections on behalf of the prosecution and its amounts to grave judicial indiscipline warranting disciplinary action against the presiding officer.”
Justice Bajaj subsequently cancelled the bails and forwarded the matter to the Chief Justice.
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