Bihar judge moves SC, claims Patna HC suspended him for concluding trial in POCSO case in a day

An additional district judge posted in Bihar has approached the Supreme Court challenging his suspension by the Patna High Court and initiation of disciplinary proceedings.

In his plea, Shashi Kant Rai, an additional district and sessions judge (ADJ) in Araria, has claimed he was suspended for concluding the trial in a POCSO case, involving the rape of a six-year-old girl, in a single day.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioner, urged the court to not delete the plea which has been listed for hearing on Friday before a bench of Justices U U Lalit and S R Bhat.

''ADJ has been suspended since he had done trial in a day in POSCO case where the accused had raped six-year girl. Five months have passed. Request not to delete it," the counsel urged a bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.

Acceding to counsel's request, the CJl said, ''All right, not to be deleted.'' To buttress his contention, the petitioner has claimed the action was also taken because in one of his judgments he had granted capital punishment to the accused in four working days of trial, and in another case he awarded punishment of life imprisonment in one working day of trial which was not only widely reported by media but also appreciated by the government and people alike.

The petition termed the "non speaking" suspension order, passed on February 8, 2022 "illegal, malicious and arbitrary". A non speaking order is an order where the reasons for the findings are not mentioned.

It argued that the petitioner had also sought consideration for restoration of seniority on the basis of new evaluation system introduced by the high court which straightaway issued notice and later suspended him for questioning the process of evaluation of judgments. He alleged the high court failed in its constitutional obligation to quide and protect judicial officers and suspended him without giving any reasons.

The ADJ had assumed charge as Special Judge, POCSO on August 20, 2020.

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