‘Don’t judge only on past conduct’

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed the Maharashtra government to reconsider the candidature of a man who was denied not appointed as a judicial officer because he was charged with kidnapping before being declared innocent by a trial court.

The top court held that moral turpitude cannot be invoked mechanically as a ground to deny appointments to public services.

A bench of justices Kurian Joseph, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Navin Sinha allowed the appeal filed by Mohammed Imran, who was denied appointment to the judicial services on the grounds he was involved in a kidnapping case. The court emphasised the need to “appreciate individual facts and circumstances in each case before making decisions”.

Writing the judgment, justice Sinha said “undoubtedly, judicial service is very different from other services and the yardstick of suitability that may apply to other services, may not be the same for a judicial service. But there cannot be any mechanical or rhetorical incantation of moral turpitude to deny appointment in judicial service simplicitor.”

The court said every individual deserved an opportunity to improve, learn from the past, and move ahead in life by self improvement.

“To make past conduct, irrespective of all considerations, an albatross around the neck of the candidate, may not always constitute justice... ,”

Imran allegedly helped his friend Bilal kidnap a girl in an autorickshaw in Sangli district, Maharashtra in October 2004.

The police charged Bilal with rape and Imran with kidnapping a woman to compel her to marry. But Imran was later acquitted by a trial court in the case.