HC recommends, Punjab sacks judge

The Punjab government, on the recommendations of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has sacked a civil judge of the 1995 batch of Punjab Civil Services posted in Bathinda.

The Punjab government, on the recommendations of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has sacked a civil judge of the 1995 batch of Punjab Civil Services posted in Bathinda.

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Recently, the high court had taken a decision to dispense with the services of Ranjit Singh, Civil Judge Junior Division-cum-Judicial Magistrate, by giving him premature retirement.

The high court decision was based on the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) given by a HC judge, who had found Singh’s performance below average with “integrity doubtful” when he was posted at Rajpura.

When contacted, Singh confirmed having been “forcefully given premature retirement” by the high court due to “adverse ACR”.

“I don’t want to say anything as I am going to challenge the order. I was sacked on the basis of just one adverse ACR when posted at Rajpura, even as all my previous 12 years’ ACRs are good,” he said.

Recently, on HC directions, the Bathinda district judge had withdrawn work from Singh, whose promotion as Additional District Judge was put on hold due to the adverse ACR.

The state home department issued the marching orders of Singh on July 21 after sitting on the HC recommendation for some weeks.