The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Petitions challenging district judges’ termination dismissed

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Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Petitions challenging district judges’ termination dismissed

K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI: “Dispensation of justice is an attribute of God. Blessed are those on whom that godly assignment has befallen. Still blessed are those who acquit themselves of such assignment with pride, dignity and honour,” the Madras High Court has observed.

Dismissing writ petitions by six persons who challenged the termination of their services as Additional District Judges, Fast Track Courts (FTC), by the government, a Division Bench, comprising Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and M. Venugopal, said that the qualities of a good judge included patience, wisdom, courage, firmness, alertness, incorruptibility and the gifts of sympathy and insight.

In a democracy, a judge was accorded great respect by the State and citizens.

He was not only permitted to assert his freedom and impartiality but also expected to use all his forensic skill to protect the rights of the individual against arbitrariness. Though such a state of affairs made it easy for the judge to exercise his functions, he still required many qualities to perform his duties effectively, the Bench observed.

The petitioners, K. Pandurangan and five others were appointed directly from the Bar as FTC Judges on an ad hoc basis in February 2002, along with others. Their services were terminated in January 2007. They said the termination orders were punitive in nature, besides leaving a stigma on them.

The impugned orders were passed without enquiry and without an opportunity to them. Hence, the orders needed to be set aside.

The Bench insisted that the petitioners’ cases were not cases of disciplinary proceeding matters, so as to say that the procedure under the rules should be scrupulously followed.

Periodical reviews

The High Court had submitted that there were periodical reviews of judgments and found that the petitioners had not followed the procedure contemplated, while disposing the cases and there was poor performance by them throughout.

It had been strenuously submitted by the High Court that the impugned orders were passed on the petitioners, who were probationers, since their services were not satisfactory and not as a punishment.

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