The Supreme Court today issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh High Court in plea by a senior Madhya Pradesh District Judge for quashing of a 2018 sexual harassment charge against him by a woman judicial officer. The court has also directed to stop the disciplinary actions taken against the district judge.
A bench led by Chief Justice SA Bobde directed this while hearing a plea challenging the order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, where no relief was given to the judge.
Senior Advocate R Balasubramanium, stated that his client is in the service from 32 years without any allegations against him. When he was about to be considered for elevation to the High Court, all of sudden this complaint came up and inquiry was started.
CJI Bobde also stated that it has become a trend to put up allegations against a judge, when a he’s about to be promoted or elevated. All kinds of things start happening. Various complaints start coming , various news items appear and suddenly pearson becomes bad.
The petitioner contended that the High Court through the judgement dismissed the petition at the admission stage without checking the legal and factual issues.
The plea has raised fundamental questions regarding guarantee of service tenure, personal liberty and reputation in service.
