Justice K Murali Shankar observed that though the counsel had withdrawn his allegation immediately, the ground of attack finds place in the petition due to which this court is constrained to deal with it. The judge observed that during the pandemic the entire country was working virtually. Since the petitioner had not raised any objection before the trial court against hearing the case virtually, he cannot raise such a stand before the court.

HC: Stop hurling baseless charges against judges
Kaushik Kannan | Feb 12, 2021, 04:12 IST
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Madurai: Observing that it is high time stakeholders of judiciary refrained from making baseless allegations against judicial officers, Madras high court dismissed a plea moved by a man challenging the dismissal of his petition before the Tirunelveli special court.
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The case in question, which was registered against petitioner Lakshmanan in 2005, involved corruption and the final report was filed in 2007. It has been pending for the past 13 years. In March last year, the petitioner filed an application before the special court for trial of cases under Prevention of Corruption Act seeking certain documents, but the court dismissed the application in July. Challenging it, he moved the HC Madurai bench. The counsel contended that the trial court, after receiving the counter statement during the pandemic period, had dismissed the petition without hearing his side. He had submitted that the trial court judge did not give sufficient opportunity to argue their case elaborately in physical mode though he is not blaming or making any allegation against the judicial officer.
Justice K Murali Shankar observed that though the counsel had withdrawn his allegation immediately, the ground of attack finds place in the petition due to which this court is constrained to deal with it. The judge observed that during the pandemic the entire country was working virtually. Since the petitioner had not raised any objection before the trial court against hearing the case virtually, he cannot raise such a stand before the court.
The very lodging of a complaint that the petitioner was not given opportunity to argue elaborately physically is against the orders of the Supreme Court which had permitted virtual hearing of cases. “Moreover, it is high time for the stakeholders of the judiciary to refrain from making allegations or levelling charges against the judicial officers without any basis or iota of truth.” The court said the bar must discourage clients and the litigant from raising baseless allegations and they must desist from incorporating the same in the pleadings. The judge said that the trial court had observed that the petitioner / accused had not pleaded about the nature of the documents sought for and the reasons why he wanted to send for the same. Observing that there is no infirmity in the order passed by the trial court, the judge dismissed the petition.
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