Civil Judge Ajay Pandey says I am a public servant,not a government servant A Sitting judge of the Tiz Hazari courts was among the first few speakers at Ramlila Maidan on Wednesday morning. Civil Judge Ajay Pandey,pledging his support to Anna Hazares fast,said the judiciary,like any other system in the country,needed to be rid of corruption. I have visited Jantar Mantar and Ramlila grounds several times. Each time I contemplated whether I should speak. But today,my conscience did not allow me to stay silent. Anna is sitting here risking his life for all of us. I had to come out and say I support him,or I would not be a true Indian, Pandey said. Calling himself a public servant,rather than a government servant,Pandey said he was not afraid of any administrative action for his show of support towards Hazare. If Anna can put his life to risk,I can certainly risk my job. Besides,I am a member of the public,so why should my support warrant any disciplinary action?, said Pandey. He told reporters at the Maidan that he believed the judiciary should be brought under the purview of the Lokpal Bill. There should be accountability in judiciary, he said. He said an independent investigative agency,other than the CBI,was required,for investigations to be launched against the real criminals. His act of sharing a public stage,however,has not gone down well with retired High Court judges,who said he should be ready to face the consequences. Justice (retired) R S Sodhi,in fact,condemned the fact that Pandey had availed his earned leave and shunned his duty as a judge to join the protest. Judicial code of conduct prohibits a judge from speaking on a public stage. A judge can speak only through his judgements and if he (Pandey) is confused about his role and has a duality of conscience,he should first give up his role as a judge and then join a protest, said Justice (retd) Sodhi. Another former judge,Justice (retired) S N Dhingra said even if Pandey would not have apparently breached any rule,he must now be prepared to pay the price. Significantly,Pandey had in the past incurred wrath of the High Court,which had overturned his judgements and also passed certain strong strictures against him. In 2009,Justice G S Sistani had reprimanded him for cancelling the bail of an accused without ordinate reasons. Asking the ACMMs inspecting senior judge to take note of the same,Justice Sistani had said: In my opinion,the ACMM has shown complete lack of judicial discipline and the order smacks of judicial impropriety.
