In an unprecedented move,the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) has ordered the compulsory retirement of three judges two from Punjab and one from Haryana with doubtful integrity. This is arguably the first time that an HC has dispensed with three judges in one go. Annual confidential reports (ACRs) of the three senior additional district and session judges (ADJs),including two women,say their integrity is doubtful. An ACR is written by an HC judge. The decision was taken by a full court meeting held earlier this week. The High Court has written to the Punjab and Haryana governments to compulsorily retire the judges. Rules revised by the HC say if a judge of the subordinate judiciary has been given an adverse report at any point during his service,s/he shall not be retained. The judge will be compulsorily retired when s/he attains the age of 50 or completes 25 years in service. All the three judges in question are above 50. The full court considered service records and ACRs of the three. One judge has earned good ACRs in the last 10 years but was given an adverse report in 2001 when she was a sub-judge in Haryana. The rules were made stringent to ensure that no judge with an adverse ACR is retained, said a senior High Court official.
