Spotlight is a series where we shine the, well, spotlight on members of the legal fraternity who made the news over the past week..This week, the spotlight found Punjab & Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu for more reasons than one. .On May 9, those living in India's border states, woke up to the remnants of military escalation. Simmering tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terrorist attack finally boiled over with the two neighbouring countries resorting to artillery shelling and missile fire.In view of this, the Punjab & Haryana High Court Bar Association decided to observe a "no work day" on May 9. While judges were present in court on May 9, lawyers were not, leading to a majority of listed cases getting adjourned. Justice Nagu pointed out the incongruity in lawyers sitting at home while soldiers were in the line of fire. "The 'No Work Call' was a little unfortunate. I expressed my concerns to your President [of Bar Association] that when the forces are fighting the battle, you will be sitting at home and resting? That is very unfortunate," Justice Nagu said.The statement struck a chord both within and outside the legal community. Justice Nagu also emphasised another crucial aspect - that if institutions don't keep working, the entire nation will suffer. "We also have to work...otherwise the entire system of the country will come to a grinding halt," he said. .This week, Justice Nagu was also hearing a case concerning the Bhakra Nangal Dam, which has been a subject of controversy since the Punjab Police allegedly prevented the release of additional water for Haryana and some parts of Rajasthan.On May 6, a Division Bench headed by Justice Nagu directed the Punjab government and Punjab Police to refrain from interfering with the functioning of the Dam. During the hearing, Justice Nagu made a reference to India putting on hold the Indus Waters Treaty in light of the Pahalgam attack. He said,"We are doing this to our enemy country. Let us not do this within our States.".Perhaps the most important development this week was the findings of the probe into the grave allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma. A fire at Justice Varma's house on the evening of March 14 had allegedly led to the recovery of unaccounted cash by the firefighters. An in-house committee of Justice Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka High Court Justice Anu Sivaraman was constituted to probe the incident.The committee submitted its inquiry report to the Chief Justice of India this week, indicting Justice Varma. .Since Justice Varma refused to resign on the basis of the report, it has been sent to the President of India and the Prime Minister to initiate the process of his removal.No other sitting judge has been impeached in India. However, the findings of the report of this in-house committee could lead to the country's first impeachment..Who is Justice Sheel Nagu?.Justice Nagu enrolled as an advocate in 1987 and practiced on the civil and constitutional sides at the Jabalpur Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in May 2011 and then made permanent in May 2013.He also served as Acting Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court for some time. He then took oath as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 9, 2024. He retires on December 31, 2026..Other important cases.Justice Varma's case is not the first Justice Nagu has dealt with cases concerning judicial officers or judges of constitutional courts.Both on the administrative and judicial sides, he has expedited the hearings of cases involving judicial officers who are facing departmental proceedings in Punjab and Haryana. In March 2025, a Bench of Chief Justice Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel upheld the dismissal of a Civil Judge (Senior Division) for acting as a "mere puppet" in seven criminal complaints filed by his acquaintances.The Bench had found that the judicial officer, Pradeep Synghal, had issued summons in criminal complaints without adhering to statutory provisions. "This fact assumes significance because the complainants were listed as Facebook friends of the petitioner, and records indicate telephonic communications between them and the petitioner," the Bench noted. Another Bench headed by Chief Justice Nagu recently ordered the reinstatement of a judicial officer who was removed following a complaint by his former wife, also a judge in Delhi. The Bench noted that the foundation of the order dispensing with the judicial officer's service was a complaint filed by his wife and flagged various procedural violations in the decision to remove the him. .In March, the Bench of Chief Justice Nagu and Justice Goel also rejected a petition which argued that minimum marks cannot be prescribed for selecting judges to the district judiciary. It emphasised that it is imperative that only persons with prescribed qualities or capacity can be selected, lest the standard of the judiciary gets diluted by the appointment of sub-standard candidates.In another case, same Bench upheld its decision not to appoint certain candidates acquitted in a judicial recruitment scam as judges. .Justice Nagu has not shied away from holding the judiciary itself accountable, going to the length of imposing costs on the High Court on its administrative side. A Bench of Chief Justice Nagu and Justice Sudhir Singh slammed the State and the Court for the delay in releasing pension and other retiral dues to the wife of a former civil judge who passed away in 2021. It imposed ₹25,000 as costs on the State and the High Court, payable to the widow. .In September last year, a Bench of Chief Justice Nagu and Justice Anil Kshetarpal took suo motu cognisance of an incident where a man shot himself dead with a firearm he had snatched from a personal security officer (PSO) who was escorting a sitting judge of the High Court at Amritsar's Golden Temple.The Bench also directed authorities in Chandigarh to beef up the judge's security and later ordered that personnel of the Punjab Police be immediately removed from the security detail of the judge.It was noted that the judge in question had passed judicial orders over the previous two years exposing large-scale lapses on the part of investigating agencies in Punjab..Earlier this year, a bench headed by Justice Nagu refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) that called for a law to make it compulsory for women to celebrate Karwa Chauth, regardless of their marital status..In 2024, a Bench headed by him upheld the High Court's administrative orders against uploading orders and judgments in sensitive cases on court websites, including the e-courts platform. It said that the right of a victim to remain anonymous is directly relatable to the very existence of the person and dignity of the victim."The victims in crimes relating to women and juveniles belong to a special class of citizens who are the most vulnerable stakeholder in the entire transaction of crime and prosecution, and deserve special treatment by making available certain protections and immunities in shape of imposing prohibition for disclosure of identity of the victim, to prevent the victim from suffering any harm to body, mind or reputation.".Those who flew in to Chandigarh see the Diljit Dosanjh concert in December last year also have this same Bench to thank, as it permitted the Punjabi singer to go ahead with his concert. After being informed of the preparations in place, the Bench said it has "no hesitation in allowing the event from taking place," as long as the organisers ensure that noise pollution is under control. .In the coming weeks, we can expect to see Justice Nagu continue hearing the case concerning the Bhakra Nangal Dam.He will also be heading a Bench hearing a PIL seeking to ban ‘opinion trading’ platforms for promoting and enabling online betting.
Spotlight is a series where we shine the, well, spotlight on members of the legal fraternity who made the news over the past week..This week, the spotlight found Punjab & Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu for more reasons than one. .On May 9, those living in India's border states, woke up to the remnants of military escalation. Simmering tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terrorist attack finally boiled over with the two neighbouring countries resorting to artillery shelling and missile fire.In view of this, the Punjab & Haryana High Court Bar Association decided to observe a "no work day" on May 9. While judges were present in court on May 9, lawyers were not, leading to a majority of listed cases getting adjourned. Justice Nagu pointed out the incongruity in lawyers sitting at home while soldiers were in the line of fire. "The 'No Work Call' was a little unfortunate. I expressed my concerns to your President [of Bar Association] that when the forces are fighting the battle, you will be sitting at home and resting? That is very unfortunate," Justice Nagu said.The statement struck a chord both within and outside the legal community. Justice Nagu also emphasised another crucial aspect - that if institutions don't keep working, the entire nation will suffer. "We also have to work...otherwise the entire system of the country will come to a grinding halt," he said. .This week, Justice Nagu was also hearing a case concerning the Bhakra Nangal Dam, which has been a subject of controversy since the Punjab Police allegedly prevented the release of additional water for Haryana and some parts of Rajasthan.On May 6, a Division Bench headed by Justice Nagu directed the Punjab government and Punjab Police to refrain from interfering with the functioning of the Dam. During the hearing, Justice Nagu made a reference to India putting on hold the Indus Waters Treaty in light of the Pahalgam attack. He said,"We are doing this to our enemy country. Let us not do this within our States.".Perhaps the most important development this week was the findings of the probe into the grave allegations against Justice Yashwant Varma. A fire at Justice Varma's house on the evening of March 14 had allegedly led to the recovery of unaccounted cash by the firefighters. An in-house committee of Justice Nagu, Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Karnataka High Court Justice Anu Sivaraman was constituted to probe the incident.The committee submitted its inquiry report to the Chief Justice of India this week, indicting Justice Varma. .Since Justice Varma refused to resign on the basis of the report, it has been sent to the President of India and the Prime Minister to initiate the process of his removal.No other sitting judge has been impeached in India. However, the findings of the report of this in-house committee could lead to the country's first impeachment..Who is Justice Sheel Nagu?.Justice Nagu enrolled as an advocate in 1987 and practiced on the civil and constitutional sides at the Jabalpur Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in May 2011 and then made permanent in May 2013.He also served as Acting Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court for some time. He then took oath as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 9, 2024. He retires on December 31, 2026..Other important cases.Justice Varma's case is not the first Justice Nagu has dealt with cases concerning judicial officers or judges of constitutional courts.Both on the administrative and judicial sides, he has expedited the hearings of cases involving judicial officers who are facing departmental proceedings in Punjab and Haryana. In March 2025, a Bench of Chief Justice Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel upheld the dismissal of a Civil Judge (Senior Division) for acting as a "mere puppet" in seven criminal complaints filed by his acquaintances.The Bench had found that the judicial officer, Pradeep Synghal, had issued summons in criminal complaints without adhering to statutory provisions. "This fact assumes significance because the complainants were listed as Facebook friends of the petitioner, and records indicate telephonic communications between them and the petitioner," the Bench noted. Another Bench headed by Chief Justice Nagu recently ordered the reinstatement of a judicial officer who was removed following a complaint by his former wife, also a judge in Delhi. The Bench noted that the foundation of the order dispensing with the judicial officer's service was a complaint filed by his wife and flagged various procedural violations in the decision to remove the him. .In March, the Bench of Chief Justice Nagu and Justice Goel also rejected a petition which argued that minimum marks cannot be prescribed for selecting judges to the district judiciary. It emphasised that it is imperative that only persons with prescribed qualities or capacity can be selected, lest the standard of the judiciary gets diluted by the appointment of sub-standard candidates.In another case, same Bench upheld its decision not to appoint certain candidates acquitted in a judicial recruitment scam as judges. .Justice Nagu has not shied away from holding the judiciary itself accountable, going to the length of imposing costs on the High Court on its administrative side. A Bench of Chief Justice Nagu and Justice Sudhir Singh slammed the State and the Court for the delay in releasing pension and other retiral dues to the wife of a former civil judge who passed away in 2021. It imposed ₹25,000 as costs on the State and the High Court, payable to the widow. .In September last year, a Bench of Chief Justice Nagu and Justice Anil Kshetarpal took suo motu cognisance of an incident where a man shot himself dead with a firearm he had snatched from a personal security officer (PSO) who was escorting a sitting judge of the High Court at Amritsar's Golden Temple.The Bench also directed authorities in Chandigarh to beef up the judge's security and later ordered that personnel of the Punjab Police be immediately removed from the security detail of the judge.It was noted that the judge in question had passed judicial orders over the previous two years exposing large-scale lapses on the part of investigating agencies in Punjab..Earlier this year, a bench headed by Justice Nagu refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) that called for a law to make it compulsory for women to celebrate Karwa Chauth, regardless of their marital status..In 2024, a Bench headed by him upheld the High Court's administrative orders against uploading orders and judgments in sensitive cases on court websites, including the e-courts platform. It said that the right of a victim to remain anonymous is directly relatable to the very existence of the person and dignity of the victim."The victims in crimes relating to women and juveniles belong to a special class of citizens who are the most vulnerable stakeholder in the entire transaction of crime and prosecution, and deserve special treatment by making available certain protections and immunities in shape of imposing prohibition for disclosure of identity of the victim, to prevent the victim from suffering any harm to body, mind or reputation.".Those who flew in to Chandigarh see the Diljit Dosanjh concert in December last year also have this same Bench to thank, as it permitted the Punjabi singer to go ahead with his concert. After being informed of the preparations in place, the Bench said it has "no hesitation in allowing the event from taking place," as long as the organisers ensure that noise pollution is under control. .In the coming weeks, we can expect to see Justice Nagu continue hearing the case concerning the Bhakra Nangal Dam.He will also be heading a Bench hearing a PIL seeking to ban ‘opinion trading’ platforms for promoting and enabling online betting.
