Read Time: 06 minutes

Synopsis

A female Judicial Magistrate at Ghaziabad recently wrote a letter to the District Judge, alleging pressure tactics in an attempt to sway her decision on a plea in favor of one party.

Significantly, the judge alleged that not only the tactics adopted by one of the parties to a dispute but also the Chief Judicial Magistrate's inaction on her plea to transfer the case to a different court, heightened her concerns.

According to the contents of the letter, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) directed the transfer of a case under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to the magistrate's court for disposal as per law. 

However, the magistrate claimed that upon her receiving the case records, a group of advocates without authorization, entered her restroom at the court premises and told her that the CJM had specifically transferred the case to her court with the intention of having the application under Section 156(3) rejected and that she had to reject it.

As per the letter, the magistrate reported the issue before the CJM and requested case transfer to another court, however, the CJM took no action on her request. 

Thereafter, Advocate Rohit Gola, representing the other party in the dispute, allegedly informed the magistrate in the courtroom that the CJM had said that the case transfer would only be considered if she personally appeared before him and requested the transfer. She was also informed that CJM had asked her to call him. 

The letter states that subsequently when she made a call to the CJM, he admonished her regarding the matter and instructed her to meet him personally in his chamber. 

Allegedly, the following day, the CJM began calling her on her personal number and when she brought this matter to the attention of the Upper District and Sessions Judge, he advised her that if she felt uneasy, she should consider bringing someone along when visiting the CJM's chamber.

Thereafter, she visited the CJM's chamber accompanied by her husband. However, the CJM expressed dissatisfaction, questioning why she had brought her husband along.

Allegedly, he asserted that only her personal meeting with him would have been considered for the case transfer as he had deliberately transferred the matter to her court.

As per the letter, two days later, the CJM passed an order rejecting her case transfer plea and directed her to dispose of the application under Section 156(3) CrPC as per the law. 

Under these circumstances, the magistrate wrote the letter to the District Judge, urging the transfer of the case to another competent court asserting her reluctance to preside over the matter, citing the aforementioned incidents as grounds for her request.