The Supreme Court ordered expunction of certain disparaging remarks made by the Gauhati high court against a special NIA court judge.
The special NIA court judge is at present a sitting judge of the Gauhati high court in Assam.
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“…we are of the opinion that the adverse observations against the petitioner as contained in paragraphs 130, 190,191, 192, 193,194 and 233 and in any other relevant portion of the order are treated as expunged and shall not be held against the petitioner in any manner,” the bench of justice AS Bopanna and justice PS Narasimha stated in its order, Live Law reported.
The petitioner, who is currently a sitting judge of the Gauhati high court in Assam, had approached the Supreme Court seeking expunction of some “disparaging remarks” made in a judgment of the Gauhati high court against his ruling of conviction in an NIA case when he was a special judge, NIA in Assam.
He sought for removal of remarks such as “deep rooted bias in favour of the prosecution”, “acting in a sheerly partisan bent of mind that by any means the accused/ appellant Ahshringdaw Warisa had to be convicted”, “virtually predetermined conclusion” and “committing an act of rank judicial impropriety while delivering the judgment” in the Gauhati high court judgment delivered on August 11 this year.
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The Supreme Court stated that the impugned Gauhati high court judgment would remain in force, without the adverse remarks against the judge.
In 2017, the petitioner had delivered a judgment convicting the accused persons for various offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and the Arms Act, 1959.
In 2023, he was elevated as a judge of the Gauhati high court in Assam.