A judge of the Bombay High Court has requested that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) look into a letter that alleged that she gave an accused person excessive favors.
Despite resigning from the case on Thursday, Justice Bharati Dangre remarked that those “disgruntled elements” who accuse a judge and then “walk away” without waiting to face the repercussions of their “intimidating action” must be held responsible.
After the previous judge recused or withdrew from the case, Suresh Khemani, an accused in a CBI case, had a case placed before her.
A letter from Hiten Takkar, according to Justice Dangare, was delivered to her last week and suggested that “some favor or benevolence was either done or attempted to be done in favour of the applicant (Khemani) on some monetary terms” and that the interim relief that had been given to him had been prolonged unlawfully.
The letter urged that she reject the plea and put the accused on trial.
Justice Dangare declared that she was withdrawing from the case but also ordered the high court’s registrar to provide a copy of the letter to the CBI so they may undertake the appropriate investigation. She then scheduled the subject for hearing on September 29.
Such strategies (requiring a judge to disqualify himself or herself) cannot be employed for “bench hunting or forum shopping,” the speaker added.
She could have stepped aside from the case without providing any explanation, but Justice Dangare argued that “it is high time that some accountability is attributed to the disgruntled elements, who continue to haunt the system by their unscrupulous acts and walk away, without waiting for consequences of their intimidating action, once the Judge steps aside from the matter.”
“A judge may be impartial, but if a perception is carried by one party that he is not, then the recusal is the only option,” the top court said.
The judge advised her to be confident in her continued independence and ability to carry out her duties without being swayed by the letter.
“I deem it appropriate to recuse myself,” she said, “not because I have been asked to make a particular decision, but rather because I feel it is necessary to do so, in order to avoid any further allegations of favoritism.”
