Justice SN Shukla goes on leave as CJI Misra recommends removal

Days after an in-house inquiry committee recommended his removal, (Prasad Education Trust case) Justice SN Shukla of the Allahabad High Court has reportedly gone on leave..Indian Express reports that Shukla J has gone on 90 days leave which was sanctioned by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh over the weekend..Meanwhile, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has signed off on the removal of Shukla J, having reportedly set the impeachment process in motion by writing to President Ram Nath Kovind..Charges of judicial impropriety were slapped against Shukla J, after it was found that he had made handwritten corrections to an order passed by his own bench, so as to allow a medical college in Lucknow permission to take admissions..It was on these charges that an in-house committee comprising Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Indira Banerjee, Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court SK Agnihotri and Madhya Pradesh High Court judge Justice PK Jaiswal conducted an inquiry and subsequently submitted its report to Chief Justice Misra last weekend..Following the panel’s indictment, CJI Misra had reportedly advised Justice Shukla to either resign or take voluntary retirement. However, after the High Court judge had refused either, CJI Misra has reportedly asked Allahabad High Court Chief Justice DB Bhosale to withdraw judicial work from the judge. And now it seems that the CJI’s recommendations have been followed..Justice Shukla was last assigned to a Division Bench along with Justice Rang Nath Pandey to hear listed jail appeals including those under Section 376 IPC, and criminal appeals under Section 436A CrPC, with effect from January 2..The judge, who is slated to retire in 2020, was also reportedly implicated in the medical college bribery case in which former high court judge Justice IM Quddusi was charged by the CBI..With the in-house committee’s report being approved by the CJI, impeachment proceedings against Shukla J under the Judges (Inquiry) Act are now likely to take place.