Why a Jharkhand HC Division Bench recalled former Chief Justice PK Mohanty’s order

A Division Bench of the Jharkhand High Court recently recalled an order of former Chief Justice PK Mohanty, directing an audit of National University of Study and Research in Law (NUSRL) Ranchi and other institutions..Mohanty J, who retired last month, had entertained a petition alleging mismanagement and misutilisation of funds on the part of Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority, Judicial Academy and NUSRL Ranchi..In the order dated June 7 this year, the Division Bench of Justice Mohanty and Amitav K Gupta had directed that the accounts of the aforementioned be audited by the Principal Accountant General of the Jharkhand state government. Such audit was required to be completed within four months..Then, on June 20, ten days after Mohanty J attained superannuation, an application to review the said order came before a Bench headed by Justice S Chandrashekhar. Quite interestingly, the other judge on the Bench was Amitav Gupta J, who was part of the Division Bench headed by the former Chief Justice..The latter Bench, while proceeding to overrule the earlier order, started off on a rather dramatic note, quoting from Cooper v. Wandsworth Board of Works:.“Even God himself did not pass sentence upon Adam before he was called upon to make his defence.”.AR Choudhary, appearing for the applicants, argued that the June 7 order was passed without issuing prior notice and without affording the applicants the right to be heard. She further submitted that the order was passed on the basis of a letter written by one Animesh Kumar who had not disclosed his identity or parentage..The Court, she further argued, could not take cognizance of such sweeping allegations, unsupported by an affidavit, against the Chief Justice and institutions of which the Chief Justice is a patron. The Chief Justice of the High Court is the Chancellor of NUSRL, Ranchi..The Bench agreed with Choudhary, stating,.“Any harm to the applicant-Institutions would definitely erode the public confidence in these Institutions and it would not be in the public interest. After all, one lives by his reputation.”.Therefore, the Bench allowed the applications and proceeded to recall the order passed by the former Chief Justice..It is well established that review jurisdiction should be exercised by courts sparingly. The Supreme Court, in Sow Chandra Kanta And Another vs Sheik Habib had held,.“A review of a judgment is a serious step and reluctant resort to it is proper only where a glaring omission or patent mistake or like grave error has crept in earlier by judicial fallibility.”.In this case, it seems that the High Court has protected these institutions from scrutiny on the basis of the complainant’s credentials (or lack thereof). This, even though there have been calls to look into the financial state of affairs at the national law university in the state..Not too far long ago, students at NUSRL staged a prolonged protest, calling for an overhaul of the administration, publication of financial records and audit reports, and the release of funds by the state government..Read the order dated June 7:.Read the order dated June 20: