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TMI Blog1997 (2) TMI 595X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dicial Service over the caustic and severe censure made against him by a single judge of the Patna High Court in an Order cancelling the bail granted to two accused involved in an offence under Section 20(b)(i) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, for short 'NDPS Act'. The aggrieved Sessions Judge moved the High Court to have those disparaging remarks expunged but instead of getting them erased learned single judge used the opportunity to reiterate those deprecatory remarks with aggravated severity. Hence the said Session Judge has come to this Court under Article 136 of the Constitution. We granted special leave to him. 4. The background is this : On 16.2.1995 some customs officials in Bihar stopped and inspected an Ambassador car at Fahengola (in Kishan Ganj) and detected 97 Kgs. of non-duty paid Ganja hidden in a false chamber build inside the vehicle. The driver and two passengers of the car were arrested and were later remanded to judicial custody. About 3 months thereafter those three persons moved for bail and the application came up before the appellant who was Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge, Purnea.He passed orders on 29.7.1995 re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rks made against the petitioner cannot be said to be unwarranted as the same was passed in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, where the petitioner ignoring the legal norms dealt with the matter very casually and leisurely and granted bail to the accused persons. 5. Learned Single Judge went on to add : The observation of this Court that the learned Special Judge had granted bail for extraneous consideration, therefore, in my opinion, is commensurate with the findings of this Court and the possibility of extraneous consideration cannot be ruled out. 6. Before proceeding to consider the grievance of the appellant, a glance through the two relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act is of advantage. The offence under Section 20(b)(i) of the Act reads thus : Whoever, in contravention of any provision of this Act or any rule of order made or condition of licence granted thereunder (a) ... (b) produces, manufactures, possesses, sells, purchases, transports, imports inter-State, exports inter-State or uses cannabis, shall be punishable (i) where such contravention relates to ganja or the cultivatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ision of this Court taking a contrary view and hence the binding nature of the aforesaid ratio on the subordinate courts need not be over-emphasized. We cannot assume that learned Single Judge was unaware of the said legal position laid down by the same High Court though he did not make any reference to it either in his order cancelling the bail or in his subsequent order refusing to expunge the remarks. When learned Single Judge castigated the appellant for being ignorant of the law and was not aware of the latest rulings it would have been desirable that learned Single Judge had reminded himself of the legal position laid down by the same High Court on the very same subject. If the position of law which is binding on the subordinate judiciary in Bihar was the above (as laid down by the Division Bench in Kamlesh Kumar v. State of Bihar) there was no justification at all for the learned Single Judge of the same High Court to observe that the appellant Special Judge had exceeded his jurisdiction in granting bail. 9. We have no hesitation in holding that the Sessions Judge was well within the jurisdiction when he passed the order granting bail to the two persons, though it i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re made has no remedy in law to vindicate his position Ishwari Prasad Mishra v. Mohammad Isa [1963]3SCR722 . this Court had to repeat such words on subsequent occasions also. In K.P. Tiwari v. State of M.P. 1993CriLJ1377 this Court came across certain observations of a learned Judge of the High Court casting strictures against a Judge of the subordinate judiciary and the court used the opportunity to remind all concerned that using intemperate language and castigating strictures at the lower levels would only cause public respect in judiciary to dwindle. The following observations of this Court need repetition in this context : The higher courts every day come across orders of the lower courts which are not justified either in law or in fact and modify them or set them aside. That is one of the functions of the superior courts. Our legal system acknowledges the fallibility of the judges and hence provides for appeals and revisions. A Judge tries to discharge his duties to the best of his capacity. While doing so, sometimes, he is likely to err..It has also to be remembered that the lower judicial officers mostly work under a charged atmosphere and are constantly under a psy ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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