Justice Should Be Seen To Be Done: Supreme Court Says Courts Should Recuse From Hearing If Any Party Has Apprehension Of Conflict Of Interest
The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the order of the Single Judge of the High Court refusing to recuse from hearing a case.
The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with an interim order passed by the Rajasthan High Court in a matter where the Petitioner had sought recusal of the Single Judge on the ground that he had earlier appeared as Senior Standing Counsel for the Income Tax Department in a case involving similar issues.
The Court upheld the order of the Division Bench of the High Court, which had upheld the Single Judge's order refusing to recuse, stating that the earlier matter was distinct, while cautioning that where any party raises an apprehension of bias, Judges should themselves recuse.
A Bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih observed, “We do not find any error in the approach taken either by the learned Single Judge or the Division Bench of the High Court. However, it is always said that justice should not only be done but also seen to be done.”
The Court added, “If any of the parties has an apprehension, normally the Courts themselves should recuse from hearing of the said matters.”
Senior Advocate Parag Tripathi represented the Petitioner, while Senior Advocate Gaurav Sharma appeared for the Respondents.
Proceedings before the High Court
The Respondent students approached the Court stating that, despite having passed the MBBS course from the appellant-University, they were not being awarded the provisional degree, due to which they were unable to register with the Rajasthan Medical Council. A declaration was sought that the inaction of the University was illegal and arbitrary, along with a writ of mandamus to the Council for registration and to allow them to practice based on the degree they are entitled to. The University submitted that it is a recognised and autonomous institution under an Act of legislature and recognised by the UGC under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956, and is empowered to award degrees, including in Medical Science.
When the matter was listed at an advanced stage of hearing, the Petitioner sought recusal of the Single Judge, submitting that the Judge had in the past represented the Income Tax Department in matters involving charitable exemption, an issue in the matter before the Court, and had argued against the University, raising a likelihood of bias in adjudication of the matter.
The High Court had held, “…we have no hesitation to hold that the plea for recusal at the fag end of hearing of the case was wholly unwarranted and uncalled for.”
The Court held that the Single Judge, while deciding the prayer for recusal, had adopted the correct approach and line of reasoning, and accordingly dismissed the appeal.
Reasoning of the Court
The Court noted that the Single Judge had rightly observed that the issue involved in the previous matters, where he had appeared as Standing Counsel, was different from the one before him in the present case, which was also upheld by the Division Bench.
The Bech found no error in the approach taken by either the Single Judge or the Division Bench. However, it reiterated, “Justice should not only be done but also seen to be done…if any of the parties has an apprehension, normally the Courts themselves should recuse from hearing of the said matters.”
Consequently, the Court vacated the interim order passed by it and directed that the matter should be expeditiously decided as it had been pending for a long time.
Cause Title: Singhania University v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. (Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No(s). 36197/2024)
Appearance:
Petitioner: Senior Advocate Parag P. Tripathi; AOR E.C. Agarwala; Advocates Mahesh Agarwal, Madhavi Agarwal, Arshit Anand, Aslam Ahamed, Rohit Jain, Harilal S, Aayushi
Respondents: Senior Advocates Gaurav Sharma, Rekha Palli, Rahul Kaushik; AORs Prateek Bhatia, Chitrarth Palli, S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, Bhuvneshwari Pathak, Mrigank Prabhakar; Advocates Paranjay Tirpathi, Rajesh Raj, Vishal Agrawal, Siddharth Sahu, Shivam Parashar
