A former civil judge who tried to cling to his robe after being shown the door has met with finality—Karnataka High Court has upheld his compulsory retirement, imposed for intimidating a police officer investigating a complaint against his sister.
The order traces back to October 2012, when disciplinary proceedings found him guilty of calling a police station and issuing threats. His defence—that he had merely urged officers not to harass his sister—did not convince the enquiry committee, which held that his words crossed the line into abuse and intimidation during a 10–15 minute phone call in August 2007.
After his plea against the punishment was dismissed once, he pressed his luck before a Division Bench. But the Bench led by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi saw no merit in interfering, ruling that the disciplinary action was neither illegal nor disproportionate.
The Court underlined that unless a penalty is rooted in mala fides, violates natural justice, or is so perverse as to shock the conscience, it will not disturb the findings of disciplinary authorities. None of those grounds existed here, it concluded.
The judge, KM Gangadhar, who entered service in 1995 and rose to the rank of Civil Judge (Senior Division), now stands retired under the Karnataka Civil Services Rules. His fall was triggered by a complaint from Dr. B Indumathi, who alleged he tried to derail the police investigation into her case against his sister.
The High Court’s ruling closes the door on his attempt to reclaim the position he lost more than a decade ago.
