“Something Very Disturbing” opined the Supreme Court bench of Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Abhay S. Oka during the hearing of a Suo Moto case initiated on the Lokpal ruling, which held that it can exercise jurisdiction over High Court Judges under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.

On January 27, the Lokpal Bench, presided over by former Supreme Court Judge, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, ruled that a High Court judge qualifies as a person in a body established by an Act of Parliament Under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, and that the Act does not exempt judges from its purview. This ruling arose in the course of adjudicating two complaints against a High Court judge, alleging that he sought to influence an Additional District Judge and another High Court judge in a legal proceeding.

The bench, while not finding any merit in the reasoning of the Lokpal, has stayed the operation of order dated January 27. It also issued notice to the Union Government, the Registrar General of the Lokpal, and the complainant.

The bench also injuncted the person who had filed complaints against the High Court judge before the Lokpal, from disclosing the judge's identity and the contents of the complaint.

The Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union, also expressed disapproval of Lokpal’s interpretation and submitted that High Court judges will never fall within the ambit of Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal also criticized the Lokpal's decision and urged the Bench to grant a stay on its operation.

The Lokpal had observed that "It will be too naive to argue that a Judge of a High Court will not come within the ambit of expression "any person" in clause (f) of Section 14(1) of the Act of 2013,".

The order also recorded that “We make it amply clear that by this order we have decided a singular issue finally - as to whether the Judges of the High Court established by an Act of Parliament come within the ambit of Section 14 of the Act of 2013, in the affirmative. No more and no less. In that, we have not looked into or examined the merits of the allegations at all,"

Without making any observations on the merits of the matter, the Lokpal referred the complaint to the Chief Justice for further guidance.

The matter is expected to be heard next on March 21.

Case Title: IN RE : ORDER DATED 27/01/2025 PASSED BY LOKPAL OF INDIA AND ANCILLIARY ISSUES, Diary No. 9527/2025

Source: NEWS