Part of controversial Rajasthan high court jugdement stayed

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed certain portions of a judgement of the Rajasthan high court, accusing its former chief justice J S Verma, now chief justice of India, of illegally withdrawing daily allowance from the public exchequer.

In the impugned judgement, Justice B G Sethna had observed that Justice Verma, when he was the chief justice of the high court during 1986-89, was withdrawing daily allowance illegally while staying in the high court guest house at Jaipur, contrary to the rules in this regard. ''It is nothing but misappropriation of public funds, which is a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code.''

Sethna has since proceeded on long leave after his transfer from the Jodhpur principal bench of the high court to the Jaipur bench.

Justice Sethna also issued a show cause notice to Chief Justice of the high court Justice M G Mukherjee, who according to the verdict, was acting in ''suspicious circumstances'', asking him to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him under the Contempt of Court Act, 1971, for interfering in the administration of justice without authority of law by taking away a partially heard matter from his court.

The Supreme Court, however, declined to stay the contempt notice issued to Chief Justice Mukherjee by Justice Sethna in a public interest writ petition.

Meanwhile, the controversy has split the state bar association, with members coming to blows over the issue.

A general body meeting of the association, convened to decide on the filing of a special leave petition against Justice Sethna's order, ended inconclusively after a confrontation with another group of advocates here on Thursday. The two groups reportedly roughed up each other.

The judges made it clear to Attorney General Ashok Desai, appearing for the state of Rajasthan, that the court would not stay the contempt notice on a petition by the state government.

The challenge to the contempt notice, if any, must come from the aggrieved party, Chief Justice Mukherjee of the high court himself, the judges said.

The court, however, staved certain directions and observations made in the impugned judgement, including the observations made against former chief justice of the high court Justice J S Verma, now chief justice of India.