New Delhi, December 3
The Supreme Court today disposed of a PIL petition on the issue of Punjab and Haryana High Court judges mass leave over alleged differences with its Chief Justice B. K. Roy in April this year, saying the petition had become infructuous.
A Bench of Mr Justice S. N. Variava and Mr Justice H. K. Sema, expressed regret to parties for issuing notice on April 26 on the PIL petition when the main prayer it had been automatically “granted”.
“I am really sorry for this,” said Mr Justice Variava, heading the Bench. “No futher order is required” in the matter, the Bench said.
Since the main prayer in the petition, filed soon after 25 judges had taken mass leave on April 19, was that a direction should be issued to the judges to resume their duty, it could not be enforced as they had joined the duty the next day.
When advocate R. K. Rathore, who had filed the petition with another lawyer S. S. Dhaiya, sought to amend the petition, the Bench said “let us put an end to this matter.”
Rathore said the petition was not aimed at against any judge but was filed by
keeping in mind the interest of the institution of the high court and it would be appropriate that some guidelines would be issued for future.
The Bench also cut short
amicus curie G. L. Sanghi when he tried to say he had made some research on the issue of judges’ leave world over, saying that there was no necessity for further hearing of the matter.
The Bench said since the judges were not a party before it, no opinion would have been expressed by the court about them in their absence.
