Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
It is sad and shocking that a judge of Orissa High Court has been degraded to rank of a district judge on ground of moral turpitude.
Mr. L. K. Mishra was an additional judge and as practice and precedence show, he should have been confirmed as a regular judge. But, the union law ministry preferred not to confirm him as he was marked for favoritism in selection of district judges.
The Orissa High Court deemed it fit to revert him to a district judge position as it was legally not tenable to keep him stable in the High Court.
There are many allegations against many judges many a times. It tells upon credibility of judiciary. The country needs be free from such predicament.
The scenario could best be avoided if stiff intelligence scrutiny on personal conduct and aptitude of persons under consideration for appointment to High Courts or the Supreme Court is made mandatory with provisions of prosecution against the intelligence officer when his / her report turns out to be superfluous.
Let such a decision be taken.
But whenever a judge is found deficient in probity his / her judicial deliveries should also be reviewed.
Let the practice start with review of Mishra’s deliveries.