A Judge acts like God, should not make mistakes due to haste: Allahabad High Court

Justice Manju Rani Chauhan of the Allahabad High Court recently issued a word of caution that judges have to be careful when they issue orders, given their role in administering justice to the common man (Sanjay And 3 Others v. State of Uttar Pradesh)..While pulling up a Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) for issuing an unreasoned summoning order in a pre-printed format, the High Court observed, ."A judge acts like a God, he/she should not make mistakes due to haste or excess of work. How will a normal man get justice when a judge makes a mistake because of the excess of his/her work? At the present time, only from the temple of justice like Courts, everyone hopes for right and fair justice.”.The Court had earlier directed the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) to send his report after an aggrieved petitioner submitted that the challenged order had been passed in a printed format, without application of mind and without any supporting reasons. .At the time, Justice Chauhan had also noted that despite repeated orders that the courts must pass reasoned orders, every day various applications under Section 482, CrPC are being filed in the High Court to challenge unreasoned orders..In his response, the concerned CJM had told the High Court that he had made a mistake in passing the challenged order on a printed proforma due to his huge workload. The CJM added that he has tendered an unconditional apology for his mistake. The High Court, however, rejected this explanation, observing:.“The explanation given by the Magistrate is not acceptable because if a Judge makes such a mistake, then from where will the general public get fair justice (?)".Ultimately, the Court set side the challenged order passed by the CJM, Agra, given that it is an admitted position that the order was passed without application of mind on a printed format. The High Court has directed the CJM to pass a fresh, speaking and reasoned order, preferably within two months..[Read Order]