Author: PTI
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 10, 2011
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Corrupt-members-of-subordinate-judiciary-should-be-thrown-out-SC/articleshow/8225283.cms
Holding that corrupt members of the subordinate judiciary should be "thrown
out", the Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on a woman judge
calling her a "super Supreme Court" for defying its order.
"You can't take the Supreme Court as
a joke. People are looking at judges with suspicion. Today, all sort of things
like 80 per cent of the subordinate judiciary are corrupt are being said,
which is very shameful", fumed a two-member bench of the apex court comprising
Justice Markanday Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra.
The bench directed disciplinary action against
Delhi's Additional District Judge Archana Jain for defying its order and stayed
the eviction proceedings against the tenant Udham Singh Jain Charitable Trust,
Central Delhi, despite the fact that the Supreme Court in an order on October
6, 2010, had dismissed the tenant's plea.
"Archana Sinha had no business to defy
our order and she has become a super Supreme Court", the bench said.
The apex court said it was constrained to
say that a certain section of the subordinate judiciary in the country is
bringing the whole judiciary of India into disrepute by passing orders on
extraneous considerations.
"We do not wish to comment on the various
allegations which are often made to us about what certain members of the subordinate
judiciary are doing but we do want to say that these kind of malpractices
have to be totally weeded out.
"Such subordinate judiciary judges are
bringing a bad name to the whole institution and must be thrown out of the
judiciary," Jusice Katju, writing the judgement, said.
At one stage, the bench threatened to send
the judge to jail and suspend her but after Sinha profusely apologised and
pleaded for mercy, after which the apex court decided to refer the matter
to the Delhi high court chief justice for necessary action.
"We will send you to jail. We will suspend
you," the bench remarked orally. But later it relented and referred the
judge's case to the chief justice of the high court.
