Registrar's complaint, Sikkim ex-CJ letter unravelled HC crisis

The administrative turmoil that erupted in the Sikkim high court earlier this month had, in fact, been preceded by a formal complaint from the court's registrar general and a subsequent intervention sought by then chief justice Biswanath Somadder from Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, official correspondence accessed by Hindustan Times shows.

- Utkarsh Anand

Justice Somadder wrote to the CJI on December 13, flagging what he described as the "conduct" of justice Meenakshi Madan Rai - currently the acting chief - a day after the registrar general of the Sikkim high court, Prajwal Khatiwada, complained of being "humiliated and mistreated" by justice Rai in her chambers. The letter was sent on justice Somadder's penultimate working day, hours before his retirement on December 14.

Notably, Khatiwada was transferred out of the high court registry and posted as a district and sessions judge by an administrative order dated December 15 - the very day Justice Rai assumed charge as acting chief justice. The transfer followed close on the heels of Khatiwada's December 12 complaint.

The developments assume significance in light of the Supreme Court collegium's December 18 decision to look past justice Rai - the senior-most judge of the Sikkim high court - while recommending justice A Muhamed Mustaque of the Kerala high court as chief justice of the state.

As reported earlier by HT, the collegium's decision followed a flareup of administrative orders issued by justice Rai soon after she took charge as acting chief justice on December 15, including the withdrawal of security and official facilities, including his vehicles, drivers and residential staff, extended to justice Somadder.