Punjab and Haryana High Court orders immediate reinstatement of civil judge

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed immediate reinstatement of Nazmeen Singh as Civil Judge (Junior Division) and Judicial Magistrate with continuity in service. The Division Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma also granted all consequential benefits to the judicial officer, except monetary.

Advertisement

The petitioner had approached the court through senior advocate Puneet Bali with counsel Balwinder Singh and Bhavyashri challenging the decision to dispense with her services on the ground of being unsatisfactory.

The Bench observed that Nazmeen Singh qualified the Punjab Civil Services judicial examination in 2015 and was appointed a Civil Judge (Junior Division)/Judicial Magistrate in 2016. Her tenure included postings in Ludhiana and Chandigarh. While stationed in Chandigarh, the Superintendent of Central Jail, Ludhiana, communicated the death of a prisoner at the PGIMER due to health complications to the UT Chief Judicial Magistrate, requesting an inquest as per the National Human Rights Commission’s guidelines.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate, in turn, assigned Nazmeen Singh to conduct inquest proceedings. She constituted a medical board on July 31, 2018, for autopsy. However, the same day, a complaint was lodged by the medical board members against her, alleging misconduct. The complaint “constituted the bedrock for the impugned order against the petitioner, whereby her services as a probationer were dispensed with”.

The Bench said the decision was unjustified. “After completion of the maximum tenure of probationary service by the petitioner, she is deemed to be confirmed against her substantive post. Thereby, there will be an imperative necessity for a full-fledged inquiry being launched against her, for proving the alleged misconduct.... the omission brings to the fore that the petitioner has been condemned unheard,” the court asserted.