Magistrate cannot be a judge in his own cause: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: Citing the age-old proverb that 'No man shall be a judge in his own cause', Supreme Court has said the same is applicable to a judge also and they cannot pass an order in a case concerning themselves.

A railway magistrate had initiated proceedings against railway administration and its officials, issuing a showcause notice for not providing him with requisite staff for checking tickets on rail premises and penalising offenders. But a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N K Singh reversed the Punjab and Haryana HC's order in the magistrate's favour. "It is a case where the learned railway magistrate wants to become a judge of his own cause," SC said.




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The communication sent by him (the railway magistrate) to appellant no. 3 (senior divisional commercial manager of Northern Railways) cannot be termed as a judicial proceeding. In any case, the appellants have not acted beyond their official capacity,” the SC bench added.

Supreme Court’s order brought to an end the tug-of-war between judiciary and railways administration arising out of criminal proceedings initiated against the commercial manager of Northern Railways for not providing sufficient manpower to the judicial officer. Special railway magistrate (SRM) at Ambala had passed the order and lodged a complaint against the officer, on grounds that he was being prevented from discharging his duties.

The SRM conducts checks which are known as ‘magisterial checks’ to detect passengers travelling without tickets and also to punish persons guilty of other offences as provided under Railways Act. After not being provided with manpower to conduct ticket checks, the SRM had said it was a prima facie case of interference in his judicial functioning and issued a showcause notice to the railways official and a complaint was sent to chief judicial magistrate, Ambala, for trial.

The railways administration and commercial manager of Northern Railways then moved Punjab and Haryana high court, which rejected their plea. The HC said the petitioner’s move to withdraw the checking staff was not only unfair but also reprimandable and directed the railways authorities to make available checking staff. “None of the railways authorities has any power to oust the jurisdiction of special railway magistrate in this regard,” HC said.

But SC disagreed with the reasoning and quashed the proceedings in the case.
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