Patna High Court judge attacks Chief, skips his farewell

L Narasimha Reddy alleging, on record, that he was a “Moghal Baadshah.” Justice Reddy, who retired on July 31 as Chief Justice after being at the helm for about seven months, accused Justice Jha of committing “gross misconduct” by levelling “baseless allegations”.

In a four-page letter to Akhauri Mangla Charan Shrivastava, Chairman of the Bihar State Bar Council, who had invited all judges to a function on August 1 to bid farewell to Justice Reddy, Justice Jha said he wouldn’t attend the party since, in his opinion, “Shri Reddy didn’t deserve my participation in the farewell party.”

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Among other things, Justice Jha — due to retire next month — accused Justice Reddy of having “no respect for the rules and acting as if he was a ‘Moghal Baadshah’ who had been posted as the CJ of Patna HC.” He alleged: “He (Justice Reddy) smashed the whole administration not only of the HC but of the subordinate judiciary also.” He alleged that “maladministration” had become “rampant,” and sub-divisional courts were set up in an “arbitrary and authoritarian” manner “without there being any infrastructure.”

Asked why he wrote the letter, Justice Jha told The Indian Express: “Sitting in Delhi, you can’t appreciate what made me write this letter. It was extremely painful for me to write it. You (the media) don’t write against the judiciary or expose the wrong that is happening as you are afraid of contempt. But there was nothing else I could do. There are so many things that upset me. As Chief Justice, Justice Reddy took many decisions against rules settled by the Supreme Court. He acted in great haste and even passed judicial orders against rules.”

Asked for his reaction to the letter, Justice (retd) Reddy told The Indian Express over phone from Hyderabad: “This gentleman (Justice Jha) has a very dubious track record. He was transferred due to serious allegations against him. He managed to return after citing ill health. Until I was there, he never uttered a single word to question my decisions, all of which were taken in full court meetings. And now he has written some letter that I have not seen. This is gross misconduct as he is levelling baseless allegations.”

When contacted, Shrivastava, chairman of the Bar Council, said he had received Justice Jha’s letter. “He (Justice Jha) didn’t come to the party,” he said.