Haryana judge indicted for sexually harassing three judicial officers but High Court promotes him

Bhiwani District and Sessions Judge Rajinder Kumar Bishnoi has four complaints of sexual harassment against him. Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Justice Pritam Pal, who was until recently the inspecting judge of Narnaul — where Bishnoi was posted as Additional District and Sessions Judge — found him “prima facie” guilty of sexually harassing three women judicial officials, including a District and Sessions Judge.

“The judicial office is a trust, and the holder thereof is a trustee,” wrote Justice Pal. “If a senior judicial officer acts in a manner as Shri R K Bishnoi acted, then faith of the people, as also of the other lady judicial officers, shall be eroded, in the judicial systems. The conduct of Shri R K Bishnoi is, therefore, condemnable”.

In his 23-page report dated December 18, 2006, a copy of which is with The Indian Express and which was submitted to the Chief Justice of the High Court, Justice Pal recommended action against Bishnoi. Justice Pal said that Bishnoi’s acts of sexual harassment which include, verbal assaults, writing anonymous letters, trespassing into the house of a lady judge and “trying to outrage her modesty in an inebriated condition” constituted criminal offences under the Indian Penal Code.

However, on April 5, when the full court of the Punjab and Haryana High Court met to finalise postings of senior judicial officers of Punjab and Haryana, it cleared Bishnoi’s promotion.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Bishnoi said: “I have no knowledge of any complaint or any inquiry. I am hearing it from you for the first time.”

Justice Pal’s indictment was severe: “It is very unfortunate that Shri R K Bishnoi, a Senior Judicial Officer, having rendered more than 25 and a half years of service in the Judicial Department, who was expected to act as a guide, philosopher, and advisor to the junior lady officer, who considered him as a fatherly figure… instead of performing his pious duty, indulged in nefarious activities of sexually harassing them. He did not even spare the District and Sessions Judge”.

His conduct “in continuously sexually harassing (three woman judges are named), as is prima facie proved, from the evidence, discussed above, can be said to be unworthy and unbecoming of the holder of a senior judicial post,” says Justice Pal’s report…The acts of Shri R K Bishnoi fall within the purview of ‘mis-conduct’ and he is required to be proceeded against departmentally, as held in the Vishaka case by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”

This is a reference to the landmark ruling where the apex court laid down guidelines and called for mechanisms to address sexual harassment of women in the workplace.

In one of the cases, according to Justice Pal’s report, Bishnoi allegedly harassed a woman judicial officer, a widow, when she was posted as a judicial magistrate when Bishnoi was Additional District and Sessions Judge, Sonepat. Bishnoi allegedly started making phone calls to her, sometimes as many as five times a day. On one occasion, he allegedly told her that she resembled actor Aishwarya Rai, the report says.

One evening, according to the report, Bishnoi allegedly barged into her house in an inebriated condition and tried to molest her. He allegedly followed her to her parents’ house at Bathinda and to Delhi, where she had gone for a training programme, the report says.