Punjab & Haryana HC chief justice recuses from hearing case against builder

Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu has recused himself from hearing a plea seeking to quash a corruption case against a real estate developer.

Roop Bansal, director of real estate firm M3M, filed a petition against the FIR registered against him by the Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau under the Prevention of Corruption Act in Panchkula on April 17, 2023.

After the matter came up for hearing on July 3, the chief justice asked the petitioner's counsel whether they had any objection to his hearing the case after the matter was withdrawn from a single judge on the administrative side.

The petitioner's counsel informed the CJ's court that the client sought some other bench to hear the case.

The matter, as a result, was marked to another bench.

In May, the chief justice withdrew the case from the single judge after receiving ''oral and written'' complaints. The case was withdrawn from the judge after he reserved the judgement in the matter.

The chief justice then constituted another bench comprising himself.

Though the petitioner's counsel objected to the withdrawal of the case from the single bench, arguing that the ''heard and reserved'' matter by a bench couldn't be withdrawn, the chief justice in a detailed order said the powers of the high court top judge as the master of the roster were ''wide, pervading and plenary''.

The court had said it was done to ''preserve the dignity and honour'' of the institution and protect the ''reputation and dignity'' of the judge.

The case was registered against Bansal, Sudhir Parmar, then Panchkula special CBI judge and others under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC in April 2023.

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