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Ram Murti Yadav v. The State of Uttar Pradesh

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 1354Decided 10 Dec 2019
Civil Appeal No. 8875 of 2019
Justice Ashok Bhushan · Justice Navin Sinha

Background

A judicial officer serving as Additional District and Sessions Judge was compulsorily retired at age 56 after a Screening Committee and the Full Court of the Allahabad High Court reviewed his entire service record, including a censure entry recorded following a vigilance enquiry into a controversial acquittal he had granted as a Chief Judicial Magistrate. He challenged the retirement, arguing his integrity had been certified in most of his annual confidential reports and that a bona fide error of judgment in a single case should not justify such a severe step, especially since he had later been promoted and the censure was never formally challenged. The Allahabad High Court dismissed his challenge, leading to this appeal before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that judicial review of a compulsory retirement order is extremely narrow, limited to checking whether the decision-making process (not the decision's correctness) was followed properly, and courts cannot sit as an appellate authority re-assessing the officer's service record. It found that his performance record rated him only "fair" or "good" for most years, the censure entry regarding his integrity was never actually expunged or challenged, and a single credible adverse entry on integrity can by itself justify compulsory retirement of a judicial officer, since a later promotion does not wash away that entry ("washed-off theory" rejected). The Court emphasized that judicial officers must be held to a uniquely high standard of integrity because they discharge a public trust central to the justice delivery system, and found no arbitrariness, mala fide, or failure to consider relevant material in the Screening Committee's and Full Court's decision. The appeal was accordingly dismissed, and the compulsory retirement order upheld.

Lesson Learnt

Courts give very limited scope for challenging a compulsory retirement order of a judicial officer approved by the Full Court of a High Court: a single credible adverse entry about integrity, even if old, can justify such retirement, and a later promotion does not erase its significance.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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