Gujarat high court saves judge from sacking for chewing tobacco in courtroom

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat high court has quashed a lower court judge's sacking and instead ordered punishment "other than dismissal" for chewing tobacco and gutka in the courtroom and favouring a junior lawyer.

The HC quashed major charges of misconduct, including harassment of subordinate staff, against the judge. The two charges it upheld do not warrant dismissal, the HC said and ordered his reinstatement.

"The act of the judicial officer of consuming tobacco, pan masala and gutka on the dais of the courtroom puts down the dignity and decorum of the court and is absolutely not pardonable. Judicial officers discharge a very sensitive and important constitutional role," a bench of Justices Biren Vaishnav and Nisha Thakore said in their order of March 2024.

The case came up again on Jan 31, 2025, when the HC's administrative section sought a clarification of the order which mentioned the word "termination" instead of dismissal. "We have left it to the authorities to take an appropriate decision on imposition of punishment other than the major punishment of dismissal in accordance with rules," the bench stated on January 31.

The judicial officer became a civil judge and judicial magistrate first class in 2005. An inquiry was ordered into his conduct during his posting in Vadodara between April 2007 and Jan 2009. He was suspended in April 2012 and issued a chargesheet for 23 types of misconduct.

After the inquiry, 14 charges, wholly, or in part, were proved, and the HC's disciplinary authority concluded that his act was "unbecoming of a judicial officer", leading to his dismissal in Aug 2016. The judge then moved the HC. The bench quashed all major charges in March 2024 for want of evidence, barring those about tobacco-chewing and favouring the lawyer.