Judge to face probe over links with woman officer
TNN, 8 January 2010, 03:52am IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...ow/5422086.cms
CHENNAI: A district judge, who allegedly had an intimate relationship with a court officer in Tirunelveli, must face inquiry proceedings for moral turpitude, the Madras high court has ruled.
Refusing to interfere with the inquiry proceedings against M Mohamed Essath Ali, principal family court judge here, a division bench comprising Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice M Venugopal said: “No doubt, the judicial officers should not be made to suffer at the hands of unscrupulous persons. But, in the case on hand, there is a prima facie material to proceed against Essath Ali, by way of departmental proceedings, which had been rightly resorted to by the high court registry.”
According to a complaint received by the high court, Essath Ali was allegedly close to a woman court officer at the fast-track court in Tirunelveli between 1995 and 1998.
Using the judge’s name, the woman officer collected money from litigants and advocates promising judicial orders in their favour, the complaint said. The complaint, sent by an unidentified person, was verified by vigilance authorities and found to be prima facie true.
In October 2008, the judge was issued a charge memo by the high court to explain his conduct which was unbecoming of a judicial officer.
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