RADHAKRISHNAN NAIR Vs. BHASKARAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This C.R.P. is filed by the plaintiff in O.S. 1232/98 on the file of the I Additional Munsiff s Court Trivandrum. The plaintiff filed an application, I.A. 5545198 for an interim relief. That was heard. Learned Munsiff heard both parties and case was posted for orders. But subsequently order was not pronounced. There upon it appears that " case was transferred to the Principal Munsiff s Court Trivandrum. Because the plaintiff was not aware of the reason why it was transferred, this C.R.P. is filed.

(2.) When this matter came up for hearing, I contacted the District Judge, Trivandrum and also the Munsiff. It is now understood that the learned Munsiff personally requested the District Judge to transfer this case orally, and on the basis of the oral submission the case was transferred. According to me, the action on the part of the Munsiff as well as the District Judge is not proper. It is one of the fundamental principles of our judicial system that what is done by the Judicial Officers should be transparent. Sometime occasion may arise when a Presiding Officer may not be in a position to hear a case. If such a position arises, it is his duty to put in black and while and request the superior officer for transfer. The District Judge also did not act properly in the sense that he did not require the reasons to be put in writing except in stating that for the reasons stated by the Munsiff I am transferring it." Hence this transfer order cannot be legally sustained. But even then I called down the learned Munsiff. The learned Munsiff has given an explanation as to what made him to request the District Judge for transfer. It appears one of the lawyers approached him and told him that the order had leaked out. I do not think that can be a mason on the basis of which the Presiding Officer should transfer a case. It may be that one of the parties would have understood in what way the Presiding Officer thinks and it may be one of the ways to get rid of a Presiding Officer from delivering a judgment. In so long as the Presiding officer is certain that what he has written in his own judgment uninfluenced by any external consideration, even if it was leaked out, it is his duty to deliver the judgment that was written. To verify whether the order was written as stated by the Munsiff the typed written order as well as the dictation book were brought here. It was verified through the registry. It was found that what the learned Munsiff said was correct that he had dictated the judgment on the particular days and the finding in the order tallies with what is written in the dictation book. Hence I have no doubt that the learned Munsiff had actually dictated his order.

(3.) Today when the matter came up for bearing, the entire facts were disclosed by the two Advocates.