MOHAMMAD GHOUSE Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant was recruited to the Madras Provincial Judicial Service as District Munsif in 1935. In 1949 he was promoted to the office of Subordinate Judge, and on June 19,1950, he was posted as Subordinate Judge of Masulipatnam, Krishna District. Among the suits which he tried were O.S.No. 95 of 1946 and O. S. No. 24 of 1949, which were connected, and on July 27, 1950, arguments were heard, therein, and judgment reserved. On August 22, 1950, while judgment was still pending, Lingam Sitarama Rao, who was the fifth defendant in both the suits, filed an application in the High Court of Madras for transferring them to some other Court on the ground that the appellant was attempting through his brother to obtain bribe from the parties, and on this application, the High Court passed an order on the same date, staying the delivery of judgment. The suits themselves were eventually transferred to the Court of the Subordinate Judge of Gudivada, and the appellant was also transferred on September 16, 1950, to the Subordinate Court of Amabpurain in East Godavari District. Thereafter, the High Court started investigation into the allegations made in the affidavit in the stay petition, and as a result of the enquiries and reports received, the following charge was framed against the appellant on April 2, 1953:

(2.) Meantime, complaints had also been received by the, High Court that the appellant had committed serious irregularities in the discharge of his official duties in the Sub Court, Amalapuram, such as that he had delayed delivering judgments in the suits and appeals for an unreasonable time, that he had made false returns to the District Court, and that to cover his defaults, he had altered the records of the Court so as to be consistent with those returns. Charges were framed with reference to these irregularities on January 15, 1953, and further charges relating to the same matter were framed on May 6, 1953, to all of which he filed his explanation on June 22, 1953.

(3.) One of the Judges of the High Court of Madras, Balakrishna Ayyar J. was deputed to enquire into these charges, and after making an elaborate enquiry in which several witnesses including the appellant were examined, he sent a report on October 20,1953, that the charge of corruption was made out, and he concluded as follows: