On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court dismissed a petition wherein the petitioner stated that he is a respondent in a petition which is pending before a Single Judge. And that petition should be heard by a Bench of Chief Justice of some other court and Judges should not be from Karnataka.
Arguments
Before the Court, the petitioner alleged that the roster judge would not provide justice to the petitioner as there is interference from former CJI named in the petition. It is further alleged that most judges who hail from the Karnataka Bar will show their allegiance to the former CJI; therefore the case should be heard by Chief Justice of Karnataka HC or some other Bench the judges are not from Karnataka.
Observations and Judgement
The Bench stated that such allegations scandalize the High Court and lower its authority and such allegations tend to interfere with the administration of justice. The Bench stated that even though judges hold constitutional posts, they are still human beings. However, they take oaths and will discharge their duties even if they have respect for someone.
Chief Justice Oka told the petitioner that he(the petitioner) has stated that just because Chief Justice is from outside Karnataka, he should take the petitioner’s case. What if the Chief Justice states that he is from Karnataka.
The Bench also refused to retire the petitioner’s advocate and stated that the petitioner’s remarks are enough to initiate contempt proceedings against the petitioner.
However, the Court did not take contempt action against the petitioner but warned that their silence should not be construed as weakness.
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The Court told the petitioner that they expect that he(the petitioner) will go before the Single Judge and withdraw his submissions. If the petitioner fails to withdraw the submission, then the Court can initiate suo-motu proceedings.
Hon’ble Court dismissed the petition and imposed a cost of Rs. 100000 on the petitioner
