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Discom raid at Magistrate’s house angers lawyers

JAIPUR: A raid conducted by Rajasthan’s public sector electricity distribution company at the official residence of a judicial magistrate at Taranagar in Churu district of Rajasthan has snowballed into a major issue with the State’s judicial officers demanding initiation of contempt proceedings against those guilty of “forced entry” during the court hours.

A vigilance team of Jodhpur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam (JVVN) accompanied by the police force raided the residence of Judicial Magistrate Suresh Prakash Bhatt on September 22 to detect alleged theft of power in the house. The Nigam officials claimed that they had received an anonymous complaint against the magistrate.

The vigilance team reportedly called Mr. Bhatt from the court, disrupting the regular judicial proceedings, and searched the house without obtaining prior permission of the District and Sessions Judge or the High Court as mandated by the Supreme Court’s guidelines.

Despite an exhaustive search of the magistrate’s residence, the team could not find anything incriminating. The Rajasthan Judicial Service (RJS) Officers’ Association has taken a strong exception to the conduct of JVVN officials and termed it a direct attack on the independence of the judiciary that calls for stringent action .

“Calling the Judicial Magistrate to the spot during the court hours not only amounted to a blatant interference in the functioning of court but also violated the dignity of judiciary and led to the judicial officer’s humiliation,” said Association president Dinesh Kumar Gupta here on Wednesday.

JVVN Chairman and Managing Director S.R. Bansal, contacted by The Hindu, said the vigilance team had informed Mr. Bhatt before visiting his house and claimed that a court employee accompanied the team.

He said the Executive Engineer who led the team had already apologised to the Magistrate.

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