New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has criticized a former Madras High Court judge for pronouncing a one-line order in a criminal case and issuing a detailed judgment five months after retiring from service.
The top court said that retaining the case file with itself for five months after leaving office is an act of gross impropriety.
Setting aside the high court order, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjwal Bhuyan said the operative part of the order was pronounced on April 17, 2017.
It said there was five weeks’ time available to issue a reasoned decision until the date the judge left office.
“However, the detailed judgment running into more than 250 pages has come out after a lapse of five months from the date the judge stepped down. Thus, it is clear that the learned judge has given reasons and prepared the judgment even after he stepped down .
The bench said, “In our view, retaining the case file for a period of five months after leaving the office is an act of gross impropriety on the part of the learned judge. We cannot accept what has been done in this case “
Justice T Mathivanan left office on May 26, 2017, and the detailed judgment in the case was made available on October 23 the same year.
Quoting Lord Hewart, the top court said, “Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done.” “What has been done in this case is contrary to what Lord Hewart has said. cannot support the acts and therefore, in our view, the only option for this court is to set aside the impugned judgment and send the cases back to the High Court for a fresh decision,” the bench said while quashing the judgement.
“Needless to say, we have not given any decision on the merits of the dispute and all the issues have been left open to be decided by the High Court,” it said.
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