The Bombay High Court on October 29 quashed an administrative directive that froze trustee appointments to the Shree Saptashrungi Niwasini Devi Trust in Nashik, Maharashtra

A division bench comprising Justices GS Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale ruled that District Judge Anju Shende, former Special Officer to then-Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, acted with gross impropriety by issuing an administrative email that halted the lawful selection process.

The Court rejected Shende’s defense that she had merely relayed oral orders passed by the Chief Justice.

It held that an unverified email cannot usurp judicial authority or stall statutory proceedings without the written approval of the judge.

In this freewheeling chat, Bar and Bench's Neha Joshi and Mural Krishnan discuss what triggered the controversy, who sent the email, what the officer said to the Court and what the Court eventually held.

[Watch the discussion on YouTube]