An officer of Maharashtra police may face trouble for allegedly making derogatory statements against a principal district judge.
Taking serious note of a reference sent by Swapna Joshi, principal district judge of Chandrapur, the Bombay high court on Tuesday issued a show cause notice to Chhering Dorje, deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Chandrapur, asking why he should not face contempt of court for his act.
A division bench of justice Ranjana Desai and justice Mridula Bhatkar has directed Dorje to be present in court on February 23 and explain the statements allegedly made by him against Joshi.
According to Joshi’s letter to the high court, Dorje, while attending a meeting, made derogatory remarks against her. The letter states that Dorje, after finishing a meeting on May 5, 2009, had addressed her in a wrong manner. “What is more disturbing to us is the fact that he told the judge that he is superior to the principal judge,” noted justice Desai. According to the letter, Dorje had told Joshi that she should not have written to him directing him to remain present for the meeting, which had been held with all the top police officers of the district as per an earlier high court order.
“He further said that judiciary should pay respect to police personnel and Chandrapur is the only district where a DSP is expected to remain present in a meeting, which is not bound to be,” stated the letter.
The court observed that there are many more such statements (not disclosed in court) for which Dorje must put up an explanation. “It appears that Dorje has scant regard for the dignity of the principal district judge and the high court, because the principal district judge was merely implementing a high court order,” noted Desai.
