The Gujarat High Court has issued stern warning to the erring judges of the lower courts regarding punctuality and not attending office during full working hours. The High Court has gone to the extent of threatening to initiate action if situation doesn’t improve.
The Registrar general of the high court issued a notice underlining the displeasure of the high court over the irregular judges of the lower courts. It stated that despite instructing repeatedly there is no significant improvement in the situation.
The High court emphasised through the notice that it regards “disposal of judicial business and full-time sitting in courtroom during office hours” of utmost importance.
The high court has been asking the lower court judges to be punctual and attend office for full hours since some time now. In 2017, the chief judicial officers in the districts and talukas were asked to identify erring judicial officers who fail to adhere to the instructions in paragraph 2(B) of Chapter I of of the Civil Manual .
In February and March 2018, the high court had expressed it’s concern again about the laxity in strict observance of the working hours by the lower court judges.
If the high court is compelled to issue notice again warning of dire consequences to the erring judges, it can be presumed that despite it’s earlier notices the errant behaviour of some of the judges of the lower court has remained unchanged even after four years.
