SC sets aside dismissal order of Madhya Pradesh judicial officer accused of corruption

Madhya Pradesh judicial officer Nirbhay Singh Suliya was accused of adopting different yardsticks in granting bail to accused under the Excise Act and indulging in corrupt practices.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday set aside dismissal of a Madhya Pradesh judicial officer, Nirbhay Singh Suliya on corruption charges, expressing displeasure over an "increasing trend of frivolous allegations" being levelled against judicial officers at the behest of aggrieved parties.

Emphasising the need for protecting such officers, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan quashed the termination order of September, 2015 and the high court's order upholding it.

Suliya was accused of adopting different yardsticks in granting bail to accused under the Excise Act and indulging in corrupt practices.

The court, however, found that the judicial officer was terminated without following the due process after serving the judiciary for 27 years with an "unblemished" career record.

The bench emphasised, "Caution must be exercised by high courts in initiating disciplinary proceedings against judicial officers just because of their conflicting judicial orders. It should be ensured that only because an order is wrong or there is an error of judgement without anything more, judicial officers are not put through the ordeal of such proceedings."

The court underscored that in case the person engineering false and frivolous complaints is a recalcitrant member of the Bar, besides proceeding with contempt, a reference must be made to the Bar Council for disciplinary action and the Bar Council, on receipt of such reference, must dispose of the matter expeditiously.

Equally, if the complaint of misconduct against a judicial officer is found to be prima facie true, prompt action to initiate disciplinary proceedings should be taken and no leniency should be shown if the charges are established, the bench said.

The court stressed that in appropriate cases where criminal prosecution is warranted against the judicial officer, the high court should not hesitate to have the same initiated, as "that was the only way to weed out black sheep sullying the fair name of the judiciary."

The court felt that this judgement will go a long way in protecting judicial officers of the district judiciary from being subjected to departmental action for alleged wrong or incorrect exercise of discretion in passing orders of bail without anything more.

"It goes without saying that corruption in the judiciary at any level is intolerable as corruption severely undermines the core of the administration of justice and erodes public trust in the rule of law," the bench said.

In the case, the bench ordered that the appellant would be deemed to have continued till the normal age of superannuation with full back wages and all consequential benefits.

The court directed that the monetary benefits to Suliya would be released within eight weeks with 6 per cent interest.