Give me justice, says retired judge

GANDHINAGAR - A retired senior judge of Gujarat is battling for justice after being charged with corruption and denied retirement benefits.

Vijay Shinde has challenged the administration of the Gujarat high court which stopped the benefits including pension after a departmental inquiry charged him with corrupt practices and for gross misconduct.

According to court records, the inquiry was instituted on the basis of an anonymous letter.

As Shinde worked in various places in the state, some judges in the Gujarat high court who have conducted his departmental inquiry have been shifting the matter to other judges.

The matter came up before a division bench of A.L. Dave and H.N. Devani Feb 1, 2010 where the judges ordered: “Let the matter receive consideration by a bench to which one of us (Dave) is not a party.”

Then the matter came up before a division bench of R.R. Tripathi and J.C. Upadhyay. This division bench came out with a similar order.

Later, the matter was put before a division bench headed by Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhya.

Considering the seriousness of the matter, the bench wanted it to be posted before an appropriate bench and the hearing has been postponed till July 12, 2010.