DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday suspended Dehradun district judge Prashant Joshi and called his conduct unbecoming of a 'Judicial Officer'.
The order, dated December 22, 2020, said that his act and conduct touches upon his integrity, amounts to grave misconduct along with violation of many rules of Uttarakhand Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, 2002.
The HC took action after the judge is said to have used his official 'District Judge' board in a private Audi car while he travelled to Mussourie to attend the camp court on December 21 and 22.
The order dated December 22, 2020 by the HC said, "During the period of suspension and until further orders, Sri Prashant Joshi shall remain attached with the District Judgeship’s headquarter Rudraprayag and he shall not leave the station without obtaining the prior permission of the Hon’ble Court."
The order said that the official board of District Judge, Dehradun was fitted in the car which may be "intended to protect the owner and the occupants of the car from nefarious activities".
The owner of the car, Kewal Krishan Soin has cases registered against him in Rajpur police station of Dehradun under sections 420 (forgery), 467 (Forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged 1[document or electronic record]) and120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code 1860.
Interestingly, a writ petition by Soin to quash this FIR is pending in Uttarakhand HC.
The vehicle which was fitted with official board of District Judge, Dehradun was placed outside the High Court Guest House, Mussoorie, where the camp court is usually held.
The high court further in its order added that during the period of his suspension he will be getting half of his salary and other allowances only if he will furnish a certificate, that he is "not indulged in any employment, business etc".