ETHICS OF JUDICIARY - TRANSPARENCY - OPENNESS

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                                  REPORTABLE
                 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA


                 CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION


                                 I. A. NO. 2


                                     IN


            SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) No. 31797 of 2010


Raja Khan                                       ..           Petitioner


      -versus-


U.P. Sunni Central Waqf Board & Anr.           ..         Respondents




                                ORDER




1.    This is an application praying for expunging certain remarks made in


our judgment dated 26.11.2010 in the aforesaid case.






2.    The Allahabad High Court has had a glorious history having produced


great lawyers who were leaders in the Independence struggle. It is the


largest High Court in India, and often gives leadership to all the High Courts


in the country. There have been many great Judges who have adorned the


bench of the High Court upholding the rich traditions of the Court and


maintaining the highest level of integrity e.g. Justice Mahmood, Justice
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Pramoda Charan Banerjee, Chief Justice Shah Mohammed Suleiman, Chief


Justice Kamla Kant Verma, Justice Vashisht Bhargava, Chief Justice O.H.


Mootham, Chief Justice Nasirulla Beg, Justice S.N. Dwivedi, Justice Satish


Chandra, Justice Yashoda Nandan, Justice H.N. Seth, Justice N.D. Ojha,


Justice C.S.P. Singh, Justice A. N. Verma, etc. Hence what happens in the


Allahabad High Court is of great importance to the entire judiciary in the


country, as it will have great impact on all the High Courts in the country.




3.    There are presently many excellent Judges of the Allahabad High


Court. These upright Judges are keeping the flag of the High Court flying


high by their integrity and hard work. It is therefore totally false to say that


all Judges of the Allahabad High Court are corrupt, or to construe our order


dated 26.11.2010 in that manner. It is nowhere mentioned in the said order


that all Judges of the High Court are corrupt. What is mentioned in the order


is that there are complaints against "certain Judges", not all Judges. It has


been mentioned in the order that many lawyers who are relatives of Judges


are scrupulously taking care that no one should lift a finger on that account.


It is clarified that many Judges in the High Court are doing the same.




4.    One of us (M. Katju, J.) has close attachment to the Allahabad High


Court as his family has been associated with the High Court for over a
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century. It is, therefore, inconceivable that he would like to damage the


High Court in any way. However, what has caused great pain and anguish


to us, are certain unfortunate happenings for some time in the Allahabad


High Court. It is not necessary to mention all of them here, but reference


can certainly be made to certain distressing orders passed during the


Summer Vacations by certain Judges of the High Court this year (2010), one


of which pertains to this very case.




5.    In para 9 of the Application filed before us it is stated that sweeping


observations have been made against the High court. This is not correct. In


fact, in the order dated 26.11.2010 it has been stated -




                      "We do not mean to say that all lawyers who have
               close relations as Judges of the High Court are misusing
               that relationship. Some are scrupulously taking care that
               no one should lift a finger on this account. However,
               others are shamelessly taking advantage of this
               relationship"




How is the above a sweeping observation? A distinction is clearly made in


the above between those who are taking care of their reputation and those


who are not.
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6.        It is alleged in paragraph 9 of the application that the observations we


have made in our order "seriously damage the reputation of the institution"


and sully its image. In this connection we wish to say that the reputation of


an institution is damaged and its image sullied when some of its members


pass shocking orders and behave in a totally unacceptable manner.




7.        We can quite appreciate the anguish of some of the learned Judges of


the Allahabad High Court, but we cannot overlook the fact that there are


times when introspection is required, and not mere reaction. We earnestly


request the Hon'ble Judges of the High Court to consider our order in that


spirit.




8.        We again reiterate that there are many excellent Judges in the


Allahabad High Court who are working hard and doing their duty honestly,


and we have not painted everyone with the same brush.




9.        With these observations the Application stands disposed of.




                                          .............................................J.
                                          [MARKANDEY KATJU]




NEW DELHI;                                .............................................J.
DECEMBER 10, 2010                         [GYAN SUDHA MISRA]