NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court bench of top five judges on Wednesday expunged “unnecessary, gratuitous and unwarranted” remarks from Punjab and Haryana HC judge Rajbir Sehrawat’s July 17 order that had cast doubts on the SC’s majesty and wisdom but, wary of further damage to the institution’s image, restrained itself and let off the judge with a caution.
The bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy agreed with attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta that Justice Sehrawat had damaged the judiciary’s image and said, “Observations (of Justice Sehrawat) of the nature which have proliferated in the video can cause incalculable harm to the sanctity of the judicial process.”
However, they refrained from issuing a notice to him. “Doing so would place the judge in a situation of being subject to a judicial adjudication or inquiry by the SC, which we are inclined to desist from doing at this stage. We hope and trust needful circumspection will be observed in future,” the CJI-led bench said while ordering that the HC judge’s controversial remarks be expunged.
“However, this court in exercise of its affirmative obligations as a custodian of the adjudicatory process would be failing in its duty if it were not to intervene by expunging the remarks, which we hereby do. The remarks in the July 17 order are accordingly expunged with an expression of caution that such an exercise would not be required to be taken by this court in the future in relation to the same judge or any other judge,” it added.
Justice Sehrawat, who was appointed as a judge of Punjab and Haryana HC on July 10, 2017, is scheduled to retire on Oct 30. “To prevent any further damage to the reputation and majesty of the rule of law and the Supreme Court and also of this court, the impugned order dated July 17, 2024, passed by the single judge shall remain stayed till the next date of hearing,” a bench said .
The bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy agreed with attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta that Justice Sehrawat had damaged the judiciary’s image and said, “Observations (of Justice Sehrawat) of the nature which have proliferated in the video can cause incalculable harm to the sanctity of the judicial process.”
However, they refrained from issuing a notice to him. “Doing so would place the judge in a situation of being subject to a judicial adjudication or inquiry by the SC, which we are inclined to desist from doing at this stage. We hope and trust needful circumspection will be observed in future,” the CJI-led bench said while ordering that the HC judge’s controversial remarks be expunged.
“However, this court in exercise of its affirmative obligations as a custodian of the adjudicatory process would be failing in its duty if it were not to intervene by expunging the remarks, which we hereby do. The remarks in the July 17 order are accordingly expunged with an expression of caution that such an exercise would not be required to be taken by this court in the future in relation to the same judge or any other judge,” it added.
Justice Sehrawat, who was appointed as a judge of Punjab and Haryana HC on July 10, 2017, is scheduled to retire on Oct 30. “To prevent any further damage to the reputation and majesty of the rule of law and the Supreme Court and also of this court, the impugned order dated July 17, 2024, passed by the single judge shall remain stayed till the next date of hearing,” a bench said .