The Gujarat High Court on Friday upheld the dismissal of a senior civil judge over allegations of serious misconduct.
The charges included threatening to sleep on a pavement after she was denied official accommodation and writing to the Chief Justice seeking the transfer of a sitting High Court judge.
A division bench of Justice NS Sanjay Gowda and Justice JL Odedra held that her conduct brought the judiciary into disrepute. It rendered her unfit to continue in judicial service.
"If a Judicial Officer decides to threaten the Principal District Judge and threaten to sleep on the pavement if a suitable accommodation was not provided, this conduct would basically be one which would be mocking the entire judiciary and showing the Institution itself in a poor light. In our view, such a conduct, which is not in dispute, renders a Judicial Officer incapable of holding a judicial office and she cannot be permitted to continue in service," said the Court.
The case arose after the judge was transferred from Vadodara to Deesa in October 2012. When she sought official accommodation, she was informed that judicial quarters were unavailable and that she would have to arrange private accommodation herself.
She subsequently wrote to the principal district judge of Palanpur seeking permission to spend the night on the pavement, commute daily from Palanpur to Deesa with travelling and daily allowances, and have suitable private accommodation requisitioned for her through the Collector.
The High Court noted that in such cases the judicial officers were entitled to House Rent Allowance (HRA) when official quarters were unavailable.
"There is no rule which mandates that furnishing of a quarter to a judicial officer is a ‘must’. The insistence by the judicial officer ought to have been in very humble manner. May be she was swayed by the very strict language employed by Hon’ble Supreme Court in its order passed in Review Petition to the Writ Petition," added the Court.
The incident prompted then the High Court to initiate the first departmental inquiry against her in 2013. The charges included her conduct during a visit to Palanpur in November 2012, when she allegedly remained at the District Court compound late into the night and had to be persuaded by other judicial officers to return to Deesa.
She was also accused of threatening to spend the night in her car outside the Deesa court complex.
Two further inquiries followed in 2013 and 2014 over letters she addressed to the then Chief Justice. In one, she sought a recommendation for the transfer of a sitting High Court judge. The other allegedly contained intemperate and undignified language against the Chief Justice.
The inquiry officer subsequently submitted reports finding all the charges proved. After considering the reports, the Gujarat High Court's Standing Committee recommended her dismissal on December 20, 2023. The full court accepted the recommendation the following day and forwarded it to the State government, which then issued the order dismissing the judicial officer from service.
The judicial officer then challenged the dismissal before the Gujarat High Court by way of the present petition.
However, in its October 9 judgment, the Court refused to interfere with the action against the judge.
The Court strongly criticised her request for the transfer of a sitting judge, holding that it amounted to indiscipline and insubordination.
"This conduct is proof of the poor character of the petitioner and also establishes that she is incapable of holding a judicial office. The act of the petitioner, a judicial officer, to call upon the Chief Justice to make a recommendation of a sitting judge of the High Court, would clearly constitute the highest form on indiscipline and also insubordination, which would disentitle her to be a judicial officer," said the Court.
The judicial officer had alleged that the departmental inquiries violated the principles of natural justice. She had also contended that she had not been given a fair opportunity to defend herself.
The Court, however, rejected these contentions, noting that she had repeatedly sought adjournments, declined to participate in the inquiries and failed to avail herself of opportunities to engage legal counsel and inspect the inquiry records.
In light of the above, it dismissed her petition.
Advocates HP Baxi and Shivani R Modi appeared for the judicial officer [petitioner].
Assistant Government Pleader (AGP) Krishna Desai represented the State of Gujarat.
Senior Advocate Gautam Joshi assisted by advocate Hamesh C Naidu appeared on behalf of the Gujarat High Court.
[Read Judgment]