Judges fired over indecent act

In a significant development, a high-powered committee headed by Patna High Court Chief Justice Rekha M Doshit has approved dismissal of three lower court judges from the judicial services for their “undesirable activity”.

The move follows after the seven-judge standing committee found Komal Ram, sub-judge of Nawada; J N Singh, additional district and sessions judge, Ara and H N Gupta, principal judge, Muzaffarpur guilty for “tarnishing the reputation of the Bihar state judiciary by displaying lack of moral character and integrity.”

The three judges, in their earlier avatar of judicial officers, were reported to be caught with women in Metro Hotel in Biratnagar (Nepal) on January 2, 2013. On January 29, a Nepalese daily Udgosh spilled the beans about their “indecent act” and reported how the judicial officers were later released without recording their detention.

The Union Home Ministry on June 20, 2013, wrote to the Registrar General of the Patna High Court to bring the matter to the notice of the Chief Justice “for information and appropriate action.”

Of the three judges, two of them (Ram and Singh) pleaded “not guilty” and reiterated that they never crossed the Bihar border and entered Nepal. But the preliminary probe conducted by Purnia district and sessions judge Sanjay Kumar suggested otherwise.

Later, the investigation carried out by the MHA, Telecom Department and the Bihar police corroborated the findings of preliminary probe.

“The incident occurred in a foreign country and direct evidence is not available. Hotel Metro destroyed the relevant pages from its register. However, from the materials available, the involvement of the three officers is proved on the principle of preponderance of probability.

They have tarnished the reputation of the Bihar state judiciary and displayed lack of moral character and integrity,” said the inquiry report.