Bench declines to recuse from hearing of case

A division bench of the Kerala High Court today refused to recuse itself from the hearing of a case challenging the selection process of munsiff magistrates.
Earlier on a petition filed by Kiranlal of Kollam, the bench, comprising Justice P N Ravindran and Justice P V Asha, had called for the answer papers and tabulation sheets of Kerala Judicial Service Examination 2013 conducted by the High Court for the posts of munsiff-magistrate.
Considering the petition, the bench had orally observed that there were some irregularities in the valuation process.
When the matter came up today, some of the selected candidates through their counsel complained that this procedure was unheard of and they had no faith in the bench.

Relatives of some candidates also had made complaints to the Chief Justice doubting the integrity of the bench. The Chief Justice directed the present Bench to continue the hearing of the case.
The court rejected the plea to stop the hearing of the case by the present bench.