Acquitted of spying for Pak, UP man all set to be judge

The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to appoint as additional district judge a man who was denied appointment on the ground that he had faced two trials regarding alleged charges of spying for Pakistan as well as for sedition.

The high court asked the state to issue appointment letter to petitioner Pradeep Kumar by January 15, 2025. He had successfully passed the higher judicial examination in 2017.

Passing the order on a writ petition filed by Kumar, a two-judge Bench observed, “The petitioner was ‘honourably acquitted’ in two criminal trials faced by him and no element of truth was found in the prosecution story, in either case. In view of the above, the writ petition must succeed. It is allowed. Mandamus is issued to state government to ensure character verification of the petitioner within two weeks. Consequentially, upon completion of all formalities, appointment letter may be issued to the petitioner not later than January 15, 2025.”

Kumar had applied for selection to the UP Higher Judicial Service under the UP Higher Judicial Service (Direct Recruitment) Examination, 2016.