Sikkim district judge moves Supreme Court against High Court, alleges vindictive vigilance action

A sitting district judge in Sikkim has approached the Supreme Court against the Sikkim High Court, alleging that he has been subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment and retaliatory vigilance action after he complained against a then sitting judge of the High Court, who is now retired.

District and Sessions Judge at Mangan, Prajwal Khatiwada, has filed a writ petition under Article 32 challenging a show cause notice issued to him by the High Court of Sikkim on August 12.

The petition names the High Court of Sikkim, its Registrar (Vigilance), Vigilance Inspector Sarad Subba and the State of Sikkim as respondents.

Khatiwada joined the Sikkim Judicial Service in 2005 after topping the State's judicial service examination. He served as Registrar General of the High Court from February 2023 to December 2025 before being posted to Mangan.

According to the petition, the trouble started after Khatiwada lodged a formal complaint on December 12, 2025 against a then sitting judge of the High Court, alleging mistreatment and humiliation. Copies of the complaint were sent to the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.

The High Court judge in question was appointed Acting Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court days later, with effect from December 15, 2025, after the previous Chief Justice demitted office.

The petition alleges that from that point on, Khatiwada was targeted through a series of administrative actions. These include his abrupt transfer, withdrawal of his security cover, questioning of his subordinate staff about his personal matters and the initiation of vigilance inquiries against him.

He has also cited an anonymous complaint dated December 19, 2025, addressed to the President of India, which he says made scandalous allegations against him and his family members.

The petition says that Khatiwada's Annual Confidential Report (ACR) - a record showing the evaluation of a judge's performance - for April to December 2025 has gone missing and that he was later served a fresh charge over its non-submission despite having filed it.

He is challenging a statement of allegations dated July 10 containing 22 charges served on him and an August 12 show cause notice that called his response unsatisfactory. The August notice three more charges, one linked to his complaint against Vigilance Inspector Sarad Subba, whom he accuses of revisiting a hotel from his private visit even as that complaint was pending.

Khatiwada invokes Articles 14, 16, 19(1)(a), 21, 235 and 311, relying on the Constitution Bench ruling in Samsher Singh v. State of Punjab against roving inquiries into judicial officers. He has sought quashing of the show cause notice and statement of allegations, disclosure of all material relied upon, a probe into the missing ACR, a stay on coercive action and disciplinary proceedings against Subba.