‘Tainted’ HC judge calls it a day

The committee held extensive rounds of inquiry in both Jaipur and Jodhpur before submitting their confidential report to the Supreme Court.

The resignation comes amid increasing hostility from lawyers of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Council, who were boycotting judge Arun Madan’s court and had demanded that no work should be allotted to him till he is cleared of all the sexual misconduct and corruption charges.

‘‘The fact that he has submitted his resignation indicates guilt,’’ says lawyer Manish Bhandari, who as president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association spearheaded the campaign against Madan. ‘‘We consider this as a victory and a result of our long agitation.’’ Earlier, in a written memorandum presented before a three-judge committee, they had demanded that no work be given to him till the inquiry is completed.

The lawyers had also decided that no one would appear before Justice Madan, forcing the latter to adjourn all matters that came up before him. During the inquiry, women’s organisations also asked the three-member panel to ‘‘take action if the credibility in the judiciary is to be restored’’.

In a memorandum, nine groups, under the aegis of Mahila Atyachar Virodhi Jan Andolan, said the case should be seen as a ‘‘disturbing pattern in the judiciary’’ and called for a larger probe into the functioning of the system.