Kerala judge under investigation for controversial social media posts on Sabarimala, Lord Ayyappa announces resignation via Facebook

Perumbavoor Sub-judge, S Sudeep, who was under investigation for his controversial social media posts, has tendered his resignation to Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, S Manikumar..Sudeep announced his resignation through a Facebook post on Monday, in which he stated that he has sent an official resignation letter with a single sentence to the Kerala High Court. .Earlier, in a longer Facebook post, he had indicated that he would be tendering his resignation soon stating that the resignation letter is in his pocket. .Sudeep had faced disciplinary enquiry by the High Court for publicly criticising judgments of the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court. According to his post on Facebook, charges levelled against him were for mocking the rituals associated with Karkkidaka Vavu which hurt religious sentiments, questioning the celibacy of Lord Ayyappa (Sabarimala) and later praising the first Sabarimala judgement by the Supreme Court by which the top court had allowed entry of women into the hill shrine temple.He was also accused of misrepresenting the order passed by Justice Devan Ramachandran of the Kerala High Court on an issue concerning flex boards. .In his earlier Facebook post, he confirmed that the enquiry into the charges levelled against him began in December,2019. After the High Court received complaints against Sudeep, a detailed enquiry into his social media posts was conducted under a senior District judge from the State. .While he was not found guilty of hurting religious sentiments and other such grave charges, the enquiry concluded that his actions were in contravention of the circular issued by the Kerala High Court on December 15, 2017 that restrained judicial officers from commenting on "controversial" and "sensitive" matters on public platforms. An enquiry report to that effect was submitted before the High Court which accepted the same and sought his explanation. .Sudeep stated in his Facebook post that he had explained that the charges levelled against him are wrong. He argued that the High Court Circular was vague and that defending court verdicts and rule of law should not construed as controversial. Further, he also said that the terms "controversial" and "sensitive" used in the Kerala High Court circular are subjective. His explanation was, however, rejected. Thereafter, he received the notification of termination of services last year..Sudeep also expressed his disappointment at the fact that over the last few years, his last three increments were withheld and he was overlooked for promotion as District Judge in 2019 while several persons below him in service duration were elevated to District judges. .While informing his followers of his resignation yesterday, Sudeep thanked Chief Justice Manikumar and other senior judges and judicial officers and the judicial institution for guiding him over his 19 years of service.