LUCKNOW: Indicted in Medical Council of India bribery case and removed from all judicial responsibilities, sitting judge of Allahabad High Court Justice Shri Narayan Shukla has proceeded on leave on Wednesday. Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra had set up an inquiry panel to probe into charges of bribery against Justice Shukla and subsequent report is believed to have given adverse findings and recommended his ouster.
Following the recommendations of the probe report, CJI Dipak Misra has decided to suggest dismissal of the judge. The CJI is likely to forward the related file to the President and the PM any time now. Notably, Justice Shukla is accused of granting permission to a Lucknow-based Medical College to take admission in session 2017-18 despite an adverse order by the Supreme Court which had restrained the Allahabad High Court from doing so. The judge passed an order in favour of the medical college in August 2017 even while the college was debarred by Medical Council of India.
Resultantly, the CJI set up a three member probe panel comprising of Madras HC Chief Justice Indrani Banerjee, Sikkim HC Chief Justice SK Agnihotri and MP HC judge Justice PK Jaiswal, in November to probe into the charges of bribery against Justice Shukla.
As per the sources, in the light of probe report, Justice Shukla was asked either to resign or to seek voluntary retirement but the judge refused to budge despite being aware of adverse findings against him. As the CJI advised Allahabad High Court Chief Justice DB Bhosale to withdraw all judicial responsibilities from the erring judge, his name was also removed from the daily roster of the High Court.
In fact, Shukla joined the Allahabad High Court in 2005 and had to retire in July 2020. However, the sources said that the probe report did not make a recommendation to initiate criminal proceedings against