What Madras High Court said about district judge who held call with murder accused former Kanchi seer

The Madras High Court on Monday refused to interfere with an order suspending former additional district judge A Rajasekaran for attending a ‘conference call’ with former Kanchi seer Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, who was named as prime accused in a murder case..A Bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and K Rajasekar dismissed a writ petition filed last year by Rajasekaran challenging the order of his suspension and seeking regular retirement and pension benefits.The High Court said that an inquiry conducted by an administrative committee analysed voice samples obtained from the call in question, as well as other evidence, to conclude that Rajasekaran had been part of a conference call with Saraswathi and one of his associates. Rajasekaran’s order of suspension, therefore, was not disproportionate in any way, the Bench said..“Finally, regarding the quantum of punishment, we are of the opinion that the Judicial Officers are expected to maintain high level of integrity and in the present case, the charge Nos.1 and 4 against the writ petitioner, were held proved. The proved charges, viz., charge Nos.1 and 4 are grave in nature, touching upon the integrity and honesty of the Judicial Officer. Therefore, the punishment of removal from service, cannot be construed as disproportionate to the gravity of the proved charges. Thus, we are not inclined to interfere with the quantum of punishment. Consequently, the present writ petition stands dismissed. However, there shall be no order as to costs. The connected miscellaneous petition is also dismissed,” the order stated..Rajasekaran was was accused of having been part of a phone call with Saraswathi and others in 2011, when the seer and his heir apparent were facing charges for the murder of one of their associates, Sankar Raman, at the Kanchi Mutt. Saraswathi was acquitted of the charges in 2013..Between 2011 and 2018, lawyers S Doraiswamy and P Sundarrajan wrote to the Madras High Court seeking a case to be registered against Rajasekaran. The lawyers also submitted a CD that contained an audio recording of the conference call.Following a preliminary inquiry and a subsequent order of the High Court, Rajasekaran was placed under suspension on March 14, 2013. He was also not permitted to retire from service when he reached the age of superannuation and continued to be under suspension..His suspension was made final by the Tamil Nadu government on November 7, 2022. Rajasekaran had then approached the High Court challenging the same..Senior Advocate V Prakash and Advocate M Palanivel appeared for Rajasekaran.Additional Government Pleader M Jayanthy appeared for the Tamil Nadu government.Senior Advocate V Ayyadurai and Advocate A Durai Eswar appeared for the Registrar General of the Madras High Court..[Read Order]