CJM rejects Uttarakhand government's order to withdraw case against civil judge

HARIDWAR: The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Haridwar , on Thursday rejected the state government’s proposal seeking withdrawal of criminal case against senior civil judge Deepali Sharma.


The state government had recently written to the Haridwar district magistrate seeking withdrawal of case against the accused judge in “public interest”.

While hearing the matter on Thursday, CJM Arun Vohra said that there is no public interest in withdrawing a case against an accused of criminal activities. “In fact, public interest will be affected if the case is withdrawn against Sharma, who is accused of employing and abusing a minor girl at her Haridwar residence,” said the CJM.

Confirming that the CJM court has rejected the government’s order, assistant prosecution officer Vinay Gupta said that the court was hearing an objection filed by activist JP Badoni.

Badoni argued the case against two representatives of the state government on Wednesday and Thursday.

Badoni said, “The order is a victory of truth. It proves that nobody is above the law. The government should now rethink its decision of withdrawing the case as it was against the public interest.”

To recall, a 14-year-old girl, a resident of Padampuri village in Nainital district, was rescued by police on January 29, 2018, from the government residence of the judge after an anonymous complaint. Her medical examination had revealed that she had over 20 wounds and had also suffered burns.

Police had subsequently registered a case against Sharma under sections 323 (voluntary causing grievous hurt) and 370 (1), (4), (7) (indulging in trafficking of persons), 506 (punishment of criminal intimidation) of the IPC and section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act (punishment for cruelty to child).

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)