Patna: Cases withdrawn from HC Judge who criticised fellow Judges

The Patna High Court on Thursday withdrew all the cases from Justice Rakesh Kumar, allegedly after he came down heavily on the judges of the lower courts in his order copy pertaining to a corruption case against a former IAS officer KP Ramaiah.

"All the matter pending before the Justice Rakesh Kumar, sitting singly including tied up/part-heard or otherwise stand withdrawn with immediate effect," Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi stated in a notice on Wednesday.

The notice comes after Justice Kumar, in an order copy on Wednesday, sought an inquiry on the bail granted to Ramaiah by the lower court after his pre-arrest bail was rejected by the High Court in March, earlier this year.

This order by Justice Kumar has also been withdrawn by the court.

"Grant of bail or refusal of bail is complete discretion of the court, but if the manner, in which, an accused is granted bail, which raises finger against the judiciary," Kumar stated in the order, quoting the report published in a national newspaper.

He directed the District Judge to conduct a detailed inquiry and submit a report within a period of four weeks.

"I am of the opinion that only to save the respect of the judiciary, we must not put a curtain to those corruptions, otherwise, the faith of entire society will be finished in the judicial system," the order read.

He further ordered that a copy of the order be served to the Chief Justice of India and the Union Law Ministry.