Judge’s plea challenging inquiry against him dismissed

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has dismissed a petition challenging  an order of the Registrar General of the high court, wherein a departmental inquiry was ordered against the petitioner, Asif Tahasildar, who is a civil judge, junior division at Jalna.

A division bench comprising of Justice R.M. Sawant and Justice S.V. Kotwal was hearing the plea.

According to Tahsildar, the inquiry initiated against him is not according to the Supreme Court (SC) order as no written complaint was filed. As per SC order, a written complaint and affidavit are necessary to initiate an inquiry against a subordinate judge.

While rejecting his petition, the HC held that according to 2017 amendment of SC order, an inquiry can be initiated against subordinate judges if there is sufficient evidence.

According to the petition, the principal judge of Jalna had complained to the HC registrar, which was put forth before the HC disciplinary committee. The committee had directed the principal judge to conduct an inq-uiry and sought a report. After perusing the report, the committee directed him to initiate a regular departmental inquiry against Tahasildar.

The principal district judge of Jalna forwarded a complaint to the HC registrar general alleging that Tahasildar stayed at private accommodation and showed an inflated amount for reimbursement.

Further he assaulted the driver of his daughter's school van and pressurised witnesses to withdraw their statements. He also fudged the amount spent on his wife's treatment to get more money as reimursement.