State seeks replacement of judge from Bench

Kochi: The State government filed a petition before the Kerala High Court on Thursday seeking to replace Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair from the Bench hearing the review petitions on a verdict prohibiting meetings on public roads.

In the petition, the government pointed out that Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair had violated the canons of judicial ethics prescribed in the restatement of values of judicial life by the Supreme Court in 1997. One of the values prescribed for a judge was that a judge shall not enter into public debate or express his views in public on political matters or on matters that are pending or are likely to arise for judicial determination.

Mr. Justice Ramachandran Nair had defended the ban on roadside meetings while presiding over a book release function in Kochi recently. The government contended that the judge made the comments fully aware that petitions seeking to review his own judgment were pending before the Bench headed by him.

The petitioner, therefore, pleaded that the judge refrain from hearing the review petitions and place the matter before the Chief Justice for referring the petitions to another Bench.