On Tuesday, the Uttarakhand High Court has suspended civil judge (senior division), Almora, Abhishek Kumar Srivastava for allegedly favoring an accused in a criminal case and for using private vehicles owned by the accused, for his personal family trips.
According to a court notification, the primary allegation against Mr. Srivastava is that he and his family members have been using private vehicles belonging to the accused Chandra Mohan Sethi, for traveling to the homes of his relatives in Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Noida.
“Serious complaint has been received against Abhishek Kumar Srivastava on which disciplinary proceedings are contemplated with regard to following allegations, (and) is put under suspension with immediate effect,” said the notification signed by registrar general Dhananjay Chaturvedi.
The notification further stated that a criminal case is pending in the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division)/Judicial Magistrate, Almora, presided over by Abhishek Kumar Srivastava, against the accused Chandra Mohan Sethi (to whom the private vehicles, allegedly used by the officer and his family members belong).
“The officer is favoring the accused Chandra Mohan Sethi and for favoring him, separated his case without there being any reason. The aforesaid act and conduct of Abhishek Kumar Srivastava casts serious doubt upon his integrity, amounts to grave misconduct, and is in violation of Rule 3(1), 3(2), and Rule 30 of the Uttarakhand Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, 2002. Said conduct is unbecoming of a judicial officer,” said the notification, adding that during the period of suspension and until further order, the officer shall remain attached with the district judgeship’s headquarters in Dehradun and shall not leave the station without obtaining prior permission of the high court.
Earlier, in December 2020, the Uttarakhand High Court had suspended Prashant Joshi, District Judge, Dehradun who had reportedly fixed an official board of District Judge, Dehradun on a private Audi Car and traveled in it to a camp court on 21st and 22nd December.
Similarly, while accepting the full bench resolution of the Uttarakhand High Court and on the recommendation of the State Government, the Uttarakhand government had last year dismissed a Civil Judge from service for allegedly torturing a minor girl (13-year-old) who worked as a domestic help at her residence in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.
