NEW DELHI: Taking exception to the fact a judicial officer appeared before the Supreme Court for his service cases instead of holding his own court, the top court on Wednesday said it is a sorry state of affairs.
A bench of Justices
L Nageswara Rao, B R Gavai and B V Nagarathna was hearing a plea by a civil judge working with Delhi judiciary when the bench queried about his presence in court. “Why are you not holding court now? It is almost 10.50 am on a Wednesday. Why are you here?” the bench questioned. At this, the judge replied that he had taken a short leave to appear in the case. “This is a real sorry state of affairs. It is 10.50 am and you are here. We don’t even see you repenting,” Justice Rao remarked.
The court noted that the current applications are by the Delhi High Court and a Delhi judicial officer seeking modification of an earlier order that imposed five years of experience as a condition for elevation of a civil judge in the senior division to the post of district judge.
The bench observed that it would not pass orders at this stage, but invite applications and appointed Siddharth Bhatnagar as amicus curiae and slated the next hearing for the first week of January.