Bihar Judge Suspended for Fast Judgments, Appeals to Supreme Court
In a rare and surprising case, a district judge from Bihar has gone to the Supreme Court claiming he was suspended for delivering speedy verdicts. The judge, S.K. Rai, said the Patna High Court suspended him after he completed two POCSO case trials unusually quickly—one in a single day and another in four days. He gave a life sentence in one and a death sentence in the other.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Rai, requested Chief Justice N.V. Ramana for urgent hearing of the petition, highlighting how rare it is to suspend a judge for disposing of cases quickly, especially when courts across India are criticized for massive case backlogs.
However, the suspension may not solely be because of the fast judgments. The petition includes a long history of promotion delays and internal evaluations. Rai had joined the Bihar Judicial Services in 2007, ranking 7th out of 318 candidates. Although considered for promotion in 2014, he was denied due to concerns over his style of writing judgments.
Ironically, the same judgments were later accepted, and Rai was promoted in 2015. In 2019, he was promoted again to district judge based on his performance.
In December 2020, Rai wrote to the High Court requesting that his promotion be considered from 2013-14 instead of 2014-15, arguing that the delay made him junior to his batchmates. In September 2021, the Patna HC rejected his request and issued him a show-cause notice asking why a penalty under Rule 11 of the Bihar Judicial Service Rules, 2020 should not be imposed for allegedly questioning the evaluation process and making claims of personal bias.
Rai claims that his actions were fair and that he only raised the issue because he felt he was being treated unfairly. He has now turned to the Supreme Court for relief, stating that justice must be done not only for litigants but also for the judges who try to serve honestly and efficiently.
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