'Judge to have impeccable integrity in personal life'

A judge is judged not only by his quality of judgments but also by the quality and purity of his character. Impeccable integrity should be reflected both in public and personal life of a judge, the Supreme Court has said.

The top court declined to interfere with the dismissal of a judicial officer, who favoured a woman advocate, saying this is also a kind of ‘gratification’.

Holding that the first and foremost quality for a judge is integrity, a bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose said that the need for integrity in the judiciary is much higher than in other institutions.

“The judiciary is an institution whose foundations are based on honesty and integrity. It is, therefore, necessary that judicial officers should possess the sterling quality of integrity. One who stands in judgments over others should be incorruptible. That is the high standard which is expected of judges,” the bench said.

The top court dismissed a plea by Shrirang Yadavrao Waghmare against his dismissal as judicial officer in 2004 saying the charge against him was that he had a proximate relationship with a lady lawyer and due to this relationship, he passed certain judicial orders in favour of her clients, including her mother and brother when they were parties to certain proceedings.

Examining the issue of punishment only, the bench said, “The judicial officer concerned did not live up to the expectations of integrity, behavior, and probity expected of him. His conduct is as such that no leniency can be shown and he cannot be visited with a lesser punishment,” the bench said.

Observing that gratification can be of money, power, and lust, the bench said, “In this case the officer decided the cases because of his proximate relationship with a lady lawyer and not because the law required him to do so. This is also the gratification of a different kind”.