Mangalore, February 21: In a strongly worded letter to Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Justice Vikramjit Sen, People's Union for Civil Liberties state president P B D'Sa has expressed concern over the attitude of sitting judge of High Court Justice B V Pinto, who has allegedly accepted invitations for felicitations from an unending number of private individuals and organisations in Mangalore and adjoining areas.
The letter requested the judge to desist from accepting these Invitations, gifts, dinners and more importantly from making very patronising speeches at these functions, warning that such trends would undermine the independence of the Judiciary.
The letter states that under the guise of honouring the Judge very lavish presentations are being made.
“What cannot be overlooked is the fact that these persons, departments and institutions are all litigants in various Courts and there is absolutely no doubt about the fact that the so-called functions are motivated”, it said.
The letter also raised objections over local politicians and officials including police officers sharing the dais with the judge.
The letter warns that the public confidence in the independence of the Judiciary gets shaken because an impression is created in the public mind that the balance in the litigation could get tilted because of these factors.
It reminds, there exists a well settled principle of Law and ethics which requires that sitting Judges should not accept any such Invitations while holding office. “We recall with respect the occasion when the Chief Justice R G Sethi visited Mangalore on his official visit to the District and a group of citizens and organizations desired to hold a public function honouring and felicitating him and the Chief Justice declined to accept the Invitation which earned tremendous respect to him and to the Judiciary”, it said.
Contrary to this, in the short time since his elevation, Justice B V Pinto, has visited the area at least 30 occasions and regularly continues to do so, on many occasions by taking time off from his judicial duties, the letter complained.
The letter also quoted a specific instance where a group of persons belonging to the Legal Cell of the Mangalore Diocese invited the Judge for a very lavish felicitation function.
“Every one of these functions also includes Dinners where alcohol is served freely. While there may be no legal prohibition to this, it does create the wrong impression and eyebrows are certainly raised. The other fall out is that these individuals and organizations openly start name dropping to the effect that the Judge is personally known to them which has a very damaging effect on the adverse parties in the pending litigations”, it said.
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