Judge Can't Retain Case File After Demitting Office : Supreme Court Quashes Judgment Released By HC Judge After Retirement

The Supreme Court recently quashed a judgment of the Madras High Court on the sole ground that the judge released it after retirement.

Observing that a judge retaining the case file after demitting office is a gross impropriety, a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan remitted the appeal to the High Court for its fresh consideration.

In this case, the single judge of the High Court pronounced a one-line order declaring the operative part in a criminal appeal on 17th April, 2017. The judge retired on May 26, 2017. The detailed judgment with reasons was released by the judge only on October 23, 2017, nearly five months after the retirement. 

The CBI challenged the judgment before the Supreme Court. One ground urged by the CBI was that the judgment was pronounced after the judge's retirement.

Taking a critical view of the manner in which the judge handled the case, the Supreme Court observed :

"..it is obvious that even after the learned Judge demitted the office, he assigned reasons and made the judgment ready. According to us, retaining file of a case for a period of 5 months after demitting the office is an act of gross impropriety on the part of the learned Judge. We cannot countenance what has been done in this case." 

Justice must also be seen to be done.

The Court further observed :

"Lord Hewart said hundred years back that "justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done". What has been done in this case is contrary to what Lord Hewart said. We cannot support such acts of impropriety and, therefore, in our view, the only option for this Court is to set aside the impugned judgment and remit the cases to the High Court for a fresh decision."

The Court clarified that it has not considered the merits of the matter.

Case Title : State through CBI vs Naresh Prasad Agarwal

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 133

Click here to read the order