The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday suspended Dehradun District Judge Prashant Joshi on charges that he used his official 'District Judge' board in a private car while he travelled to Mussourie to attend the camp court on December 21 and 22.
The High Court said that a First Information Report (FIR) is registered against the car's owner Kewal Krishan Soin and attached Joshi with District Judgeship's headquarter Rudraprayag.
The order, dated December 22, 2020, said: "Prashant Joshi, District Judge, Dehradun, against whom a disciplinary proceeding is contemplated, with regard to following charges, is put under suspension with immediate effect."
The court further said that his act and conduct touches upon his integrity, amounts to grave misconduct along with violation of many rules of the Uttarakhand Government Servants' Conduct Rules, 2002.
An FIR has been registered against the owner of the car under sections 420 (forgery), 467 (Forgery of valuable security), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged 1[document or electronic record]) and120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code at Police Station Rajpur, Dehradun.
A writ petition (criminal) by Soin to quash this FIR is pending in Uttarakhand High Court.
The court noted that the Judge's actions "may be intended to protect the owner and the occupants of the car from nefarious activities."
"That aforesaid act and conduct of Prashant Joshi touches upon his integrity, amounts to grave misconduct and is in violation of Rule 3(1), 3(2), and Rule 30 of the Uttarakhand Government Servants' Conduct Rules, 2002. Said conduct is unbecoming of a Judicial Officer," the court said.
The High Court further said that Joshi, during the period of his suspension, will get half of his salary payable on the date of suspension as subsistence allowances along with dearness allowance.
"Other compensatory allowances shall be admissible subject to the condition that expense is being actually incurred by him, for which, such compensatory allowances are admissible. During the period of suspension and until further orders, Prashant Joshi shall remain attached with the District Judgeship's headquarter Rudraprayag and he shall not leave the station without obtaining the prior permission of the Court," the order added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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