SC issues notice to Bihar govt on judge's plea against suspension

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the State of Bihar and others on a plea of a judicial officer challenging his suspension by the Patna High Court, presumably for delivering a series of quick judgements.

A bench of Justices UU Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat asked the state to file a response within two weeks.

The plea was filed by Shashi Kant Rai, an additional district and sessions judge (ADJ) in Araria, who was suspended for, among other reasons, convicting and sentencing a man to life imprisonment for sexual assault of a minor after hearing the case for one day, and for issuing a death sentence after hearing a case for four days.

"You have heard and sentenced the accused to life imprisonment in a single day. It does not happen like this. Pendency is one issue and approach to a matter is a different issue," the bench observed during the hearing.

Rai has claimed in his plea that he "reasonably believes" there is an "institutional bias" against him as he concluded the trial in a POCSO (The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) case involving the rape of a six-year-old girl in a single day.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh appearing for the suspended judge cited another judgement where he awarded capital punishment to an accused in four working days of trial, and claimed these verdicts were widely reported in the media and appreciated by the government and public alike.

Rai, a judge who was hearing cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, has approached the apex court challenging his suspension.

Singh said the judge was also denied promotion and claimed that action was taken against him only for questioning the new evaluation system in place for promotions in the district judiciary.

( With inputs from ANI )

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