Uttarakhand civil judge used vehicle of accused for family trips, suspended

The HC found that the civil judge had separated the criminal case in his court filed against the accused without there being any valid reason.

Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday, suspended civil judge (senior division), Almora, Abhishek Kumar Srivastava with immediate effect for allegedly favouring an accused in a criminal case and for using private vehicles owned by the accused for family trips, according to a court notification.

Uttarakhand high court has acted against a judge it believed to be guilty of misconduct.

"Serious complaint has been received against Abhishek Kumar Srivastava on which disciplinary proceedings are contemplated with regard to following allegations, (and) is put under suspension with immediate effect," said the notification signed by registrar general Dhananjay Chaturvedi.

"Officer and his family members have been using private vehicles belonging to accused Chandra Mohan Sethi, for travelling to the homes of his relatives in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Noida," the notification stated.

It also said that a criminal case against Sethi was pending in the court of the civil judge/judicial magistrate Almora, presided over by the officer.

"The officer is favouring the accused Chandra Mohan Sethi and for favouring him, separated his case without there being any reason. The aforesaid act and conduct of Abhishek Kumar Srivastava casts serious doubt upon his integrity, amounts to grave misconduct and is in violation of Rule 3(1), 3(2) and Rule 30 of the Uttarakhand Government Servants' Conduct Rules, 2002. Said conduct is unbecoming of a judicial officer," said the notification, adding that during the period of suspension and until further order, the officer shall remain attached with the district judgeship's headquarters in Dehradun and shall not leave the station without obtaining prior permission of the high court.