Judge pressured woman to drop rape case: Records

Judiciary under lens

- Utkarsh Anand and Shruti Kakkar

The Delhi high court has suspended a district judge and recommended disciplinary proceedings against him and another judge after receiving a complaint from a woman lawyer, who accused the two of coercing her to withdraw rape allegations against a Delhi-based advocate. The complaint was backed by audio recordings, which prompted the swift intervention.

Records of the full court meeting of August 28, seen exclusively by Hindustan Times, reveal that the suspension of district judge Sanjeev Kumar Singh and the decision to initiate proceedings against both Singh and another judge, Anil Kumar, were sparked by complaints of grave judicial misconduct that the woman complainant made before the high court's chief justice, justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, in July, and later to the registrar general, following which a vigilance inquiry was ordered.