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The MP High Court has laid down strict standards for the selection of a person in MP judicial service while deciding the case of Ashutosh Pawar v State of MP and said that mere acquittal in a criminal case doesn’t automatically mark the person as possessing a good character worthy enough of consideration for appointment as a judicial officer.
The petitioner namely Ashutosh Pawar has filed the petition in the High Court, aggrieved by the decision of the same HC in the order dated 9.03.2016 by which the respondents have deemed the petitioner as ineligible for appointment as a civil judge under the Rule 7(d) of the Madhya Pradesh Lower Judicial Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994 on the ground of previous prosecution in a criminal case, though he had been acquitted in view of the compromise reached between him and the petitioners.
The counsel for the petitioner has pointed out that in an identical situation, the present court in the case of Avinash Gujrar v state of MP has quashed the order of the government under the rule 7(d) by placing reliance on the decision of the SC in the case of Avtar Singh v Union of India and Ors. and directed the appointment of the petitioner as the Civil Judge Class-II.
The Court in the present case, held that the criteria for selection of a civil judge and the criteria for acquittal in a criminal case are entirely separate and cannot be weighed on the same scale. So, one cannot equate acquittal with the fulfilment of the requirement of good character for being appointed as a civil Judge. The Court also pointed out that the standards required of a judicial officer is higher than any normal professional under the law, and require the highest level of probity ad integrity and there cannot be any ‘compromise in the rectitude, honesty and integrity of a judge.’
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