Judges occupying highest moral ground go long way in building public confidence SC
New Delhi Sep 25 PTI Judges occupying the highest moral ground go a long way in building public confidence in the justice delivery system and the perception of common man about the credentials and background of a judicial officer is vital the Supreme Court has saidThe apex court said that post of a judicial officer at any level involves applying the most exacting standardsA bench of Justices K M Joseph and P S Narasimha observed this in a judgement delivered on a plea challenging the Rajasthan High Court verdict allowing a petition filed by a man against the decision which had found that he did not deserve to be appointed to the civil judges cadreThe top court said that the judges discharge one of the most important functions of the State that is resolution of disputes involving citizens and post of the civil judge or magistrate is of highest importance as the highest volume of litigation instituted in the country takes place at the lowest levelThe post of a judicial officer at any level of the hierarchy involves applying the most exacting standards This is for reasons which are obvious The incumbent of a judicial post discharges one of the most important functions of the State that is the resolution of disputes involving the people of the country Judges occupying the highest moral ground go a long way in building public confidence in the justice delivery system the bench said in its judgement delivered on September 16Referring to the facts of the case it noted that some FIRs were lodged earlier against the man and he was acquitted on the basis of compromiseThe bench said that in two of the FIRs final reports were filed and in the absence of an honourable acquittal the alleged involvement of an officer in criminal cases may undermine public faith in the systemIn two FIRs we notice that the matter progressed further and the investigating authorities filed chargesheets However it is true that the first respondent man stood acquitted The acquittal is certainly not on the basis that there was no evidence whatsoever against the first respondent We are unable to describe the acquittals as honourable or acquittals based on there being a complete absence of evidence it said while setting aside the high court verdictIt said the high court is duty bound to recommend the most suitable persons to occupy the post The post of a civil judge or a magistrate is of the highest importance notwithstanding the fact that in the pyramidical structure of the judiciary the civil judge or the magistrate is at the lowest rung it said adding Character cannot be understood as being limited to a mere certifying of the character by the competent authorityIt said not many of the cases finally reach the highest court and it is through the civil judge or magistrate that the common man has the greatest interfaceMost importantly the perception of the common man about the credentials and background of the judicial officer is vital We have only highlighted these aspects as a prelude to consider the facts of the case further it saidThe Rajasthan High Court Jodhpur had issued a notification in November 2013 inviting applications for filling up the post of civil judge junior division and the man had applied to the sameWhile allowing the plea filed by the high court through its registrar general the apex court noted in its verdict that when the matter was taken for verification the man had volunteered with the information with regard to his being implicated in certain criminal casesIn July 2015 the committee of the high court which was tasked by the chief justice to consider the case of 12 candidates including the man resolved to not recommend himAfter the matter was referred back to the committee regarding these candidates the panel again did not recommend the case of the man and later the full court accepted the sameThereafter the man had filed a petition in the high court which granted him liberty to file representation before the registrar of the Rajasthan High Court JodhpurLater the matter was again considered by the lower judiciary committee of the high court which resolved to reject his representationThe man then filed another petition before the high court which allowed it while noting that admittedly no criminal case was pending against him when the online application form was submitted by him for recruitment to the postThe high court had also noted that out of four cases lodged against him two cases were found to be false after investigation and in two other cases offences were of simple injuries in which compromise was arrived at between the parties and he was acquittedThe high court while noting that the man belonged to the Scheduled Caste category had referred to an apex court verdict and said that decision of the committee was not in consonance with the spirit of the judgment PTI ABA ABA TIR TIR
New Delhi Sep 25 PTI Judges occupying the highest moral ground go a long way in building public confidence in the justice delivery system and the perception of common man about the credentials and background of a judicial officer is vital the Supreme Court has saidThe apex court said that post of a judicial officer at any level involves applying the most exacting standardsA bench of Justices K M Joseph and P S Narasimha observed this in a judgement delivered on a plea challenging the Rajasthan High Court verdict allowing a petition filed by a man against the decision which had found that he did not deserve to be appointed to the civil judges cadreThe top court said that the judges discharge one of the most important functions of the State that is resolution of disputes involving citizens and post of the civil judge or magistrate is of highest importance as the highest volume of litigation instituted in the country takes place at the lowest levelThe post of a judicial officer at any level of the hierarchy involves applying the most exacting standards This is for reasons which are obvious The incumbent of a judicial post discharges one of the most important functions of the State that is the resolution of disputes involving the people of the country Judges occupying the highest moral ground go a long way in building public confidence in the justice delivery system the bench said in its judgement delivered on September 16Referring to the facts of the case it noted that some FIRs were lodged earlier against the man and he was acquitted on the basis of compromiseThe bench said that in two of the FIRs final reports were filed and in the absence of an honourable acquittal the alleged involvement of an officer in criminal cases may undermine public faith in the systemIn two FIRs we notice that the matter progressed further and the investigating authorities filed chargesheets However it is true that the first respondent man stood acquitted The acquittal is certainly not on the basis that there was no evidence whatsoever against the first respondent We are unable to describe the acquittals as honourable or acquittals based on there being a complete absence of evidence it said while setting aside the high court verdictIt said the high court is duty bound to recommend the most suitable persons to occupy the post The post of a civil judge or a magistrate is of the highest importance notwithstanding the fact that in the pyramidical structure of the judiciary the civil judge or the magistrate is at the lowest rung it said adding Character cannot be understood as being limited to a mere certifying of the character by the competent authorityIt said not many of the cases finally reach the highest court and it is through the civil judge or magistrate that the common man has the greatest interfaceMost importantly the perception of the common man about the credentials and background of the judicial officer is vital We have only highlighted these aspects as a prelude to consider the facts of the case further it saidThe Rajasthan High Court Jodhpur had issued a notification in November 2013 inviting applications for filling up the post of civil judge junior division and the man had applied to the sameWhile allowing the plea filed by the high court through its registrar general the apex court noted in its verdict that when the matter was taken for verification the man had volunteered with the information with regard to his being implicated in certain criminal casesIn July 2015 the committee of the high court which was tasked by the chief justice to consider the case of 12 candidates including the man resolved to not recommend himAfter the matter was referred back to the committee regarding these candidates the panel again did not recommend the case of the man and later the full court accepted the sameThereafter the man had filed a petition in the high court which granted him liberty to file representation before the registrar of the Rajasthan High Court JodhpurLater the matter was again considered by the lower judiciary committee of the high court which resolved to reject his representationThe man then filed another petition before the high court which allowed it while noting that admittedly no criminal case was pending against him when the online application form was submitted by him for recruitment to the postThe high court had also noted that out of four cases lodged against him two cases were found to be false after investigation and in two other cases offences were of simple injuries in which compromise was arrived at between the parties and he was acquittedThe high court while noting that the man belonged to the Scheduled Caste category had referred to an apex court verdict and said that decision of the committee was not in consonance with the spirit of the judgment PTI ABA ABA TIR TIR
