Heated exchange of words between judge, lawyer cannot be ground to transfer case: Jammu & Kashmir High Court

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh recently ruled that heated exchange of words between the judges and lawyer cannot be a ground for transfer of a case from one court to another [Latief Ahmad Rather and Ors V/s Shafeeqa Bhat]..Single-judge Justice Sanjay Dhar upheld an order of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar declining to transfer the case from the court of Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Srinagar to any other court of competent jurisdiction. ."It is not a ground for transfer of a case if there is exchange of some hot words between the Court and the counsel. Thus the decision of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar to decline the transfer of the matter from the trial Magistrate, is legally correct and cannot be interfered with," the Court said. .The Court was hearing a petition challenging order passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar on March 3 by which an application filed by the petitioners for transfer of case under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act was turned down..Counsel for the petitioners Hazim Qureshi, submitted that their application for modification of order dated November 8, 2021, passed by the trial Magistrate ex-parte against the petitioner, was not considered on merits despite a number of requests having been made by the petitioner to Magistrate..He further submitted that the remarks of the trial Magistrate against the petitioners were not in good taste being abusive in nature, which compelled them to approach the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar with an application for transfer of the case from the trial Magistrate to any other court of competent jurisdiction..The same was rejected without understanding the gravity of the matter, he submitted..The counsel also added that the Chief Judicial Magistrate, while rejecting prayer of the petitioner, made certain sweeping remarks against lawyers, that they level unnecessary allegations against the judicial officers in order to facilitate their personal convenience..The High Court said that the grounds urged by the petitioners seeking transfer of their case were not cogent.The decision of Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar to decline the transfer of the matter from the Magistrate, is legally correct and cannot be interfered with, the High Court ruled..However, the High Court said that the sweeping remarks made by the Chief Judicial Magistrate were uncalled for and unnecessary for the decision of the case.Advocates are the officers of the court and deserve the same respect and dignity as is being given to judicial officers and presiding officers of the courts, the High Court said..There may be some rotten apples in the profession, as is true of every profession, but to say that the advocates generally adopt these tactics is not the correct position, it added..Thus, while upholding the order declining to transfer the case, the High Court ordered that the remarks made by the Chief Judicial Magistrate against advocates be expunged..The Court has also directed the trial Magistrate to dispose of the application of the petitioners for modification of November 2021 expeditiously, preferably within a period of 15 days..[Read Order]