The division judge bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that passing remarks/observations against a Judicial Officer, while discharging judicial functions without giving an opportunity to him/her to explain, certainly amounts to violation of the principles of natural justice.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that the accused No. 1 had filed a transfer criminal petition before this court while alleging that when the copy of the order passed by this court was produced, she made derogatory comments against this Court, due to which respondent No.1/Accused No.1 sought transfer of the case to another Court and the case was transferred. The present petition is filed by the petitioner, ‘A’ Judicial Officer, seeking to expunge the remarks passed by this Court against her in the order.
Contentions of the Petitioner
The Petitioner contended that the allegations made against her were absolutely false and malicious in nature. It was furthermore contended that she has utmost respect towards the Hon’ble High Court and she has not made any comments, leave alone, objectionable or unwarranted comments against orders of the Hon’ble High Court. Also, no explanation was called upon and no inquiry was conducted, therefore, passing remarks against the petitioner is against the principles of natural justice, which has to be expunged.
Observations of the court
The Hon’ble Court observed that it is undoubtedly a violation of the principles of natural justice to make remarks or opinions about a judicial officer while they are performing their duties and are not given the chance to explain. In the present case, no opportunity was given to the Petitioner to submit her explanation with regard to truth or otherwise of the allegations made by respondent No.1 about the alleged incident or comments said to have been made in the open Court.
The court relied upon the judgments titled Dinubhai Boghabhai Solanki Vs. State of Gujarat, Awani Kumar Upadhyay Vs. Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad and others, Prakash Singh Teji Vs. Northern India Goods Transport Company Private Limited and another, and K.P.Tiwari Vs. State of M.P.
Based on these considerations, the court expunged the remarks made by the learned single judge against the Petitioner.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court allowed the Petition.
Case Title: ‘A’ Judicial Officer. V. Ponnaganti Raja
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice B. Syamsunder
Case No.: I.A.Nos.2 & 3 OF 2020 IN TRANSFER CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 117/2019
Advocate for the Petitioner: P.GIRISH KUMAR
Advocate for the Respondent: K.V.ADITYA CHOWDARY
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