New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that
members of the judiciary have a duty to uphold stringent
social and moral values in their personal lives and upheld the
removal of a judge for accumulating disproportionate assets.
A Bench of Justices B S Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar
dismissed the petition of Dinesh Chandra Pandey who was
removed in 1982 while working as a Civil Judge in Madhya
Pradesh`s Dhamtari district.
The apex court concurred with the findings of the trial
court and the High Court that Pandey had accumulated bank
balance which was disproportionate to known sources of his
income.
"He belongs to a service which is looked upon by the
public at large as a service cadre of high integrity and
professional values.
"The judges are expected to apply stringent social and
moral values to their standard of living. It was expected of
the appellant to disclose all true and correct information and
documents in his power and possession before the Enquiry
Officer. It was not required of him to withhold relevant
material and take such a defence which could not be
substantiated during the course of departmental inquiry," the
apex court said in a judgement.
The apex court did not agree with the judge`s plea
that he was falsely implicated by an advocate and that the
high bank balance in his bank account was from the earning he
received from his agricultural records.
The Bench pointed out that even in the IT returns, the
judge had not mentioned any such accrual of agricultural
income and the evidence on record clearly indicated his
guilt.
PTI
