New Delhi, July 29 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Friday observed the approach of a judge, who sentenced a convict to capital punishment within four working days and decided on a POCSO case and awarded a life term to the convict within a working day, cannot be termed commendable. However, the top court sought a response from the Registrar General of the Patna High Court on the plea by the judge, Shashi Kant Rai, challenging his suspension. Senior advocate Vikas Singh along with advocate Nitin Saluja, represented the judge, before a bench headed by Justice U.U. Lalit. Singh submitted that his client, who sought seniority on the basis of a new evaluation system, received a call from the high court and he was subsequently suspended without any reason.
The bench said: “Merely because something is done in four days does not mean that judgment has to be set aside.” “But we can- not say such an approach is commendable,” it added. The bench told the petitioner’s counsel: “You have heard and sentenced the accused to life imprisonment in a single day. It does not happen like this,” and clarified that pendency is one issue and approach to a matter is a different issue. Citing the top court’s judgments, the bench pointed out that there are many judgments that say sentencing issues should not be done on the same day. However, the counsel argued that a judge cannot be proceeded against for an erroneous judgment. The bench recalled that a person was given a death sentence in a span of nine days and the top court set aside that order and sent the matter back to the sessions court for a fresh trial. It said it will be a travesty of justice if adequate notice is not given, and also an adequate opportunity is not given to the person who is finally going to get the death sentence. After hearing arguments on the matter.
