The Patna High Court has seized the judicial powers of the Additional District Session Judge-1 of Jhanjharpur sub-divisional court in Madhubani district, who has been in the news for his strange orders.
In an administrative order issued on Friday, the court directed Avinash Kumar Singh not to do any judicial work till further orders.
The High Court also put the Additional District Session Judge-VIII of Bhabhua court in Kaimur district under suspension till the pendency of disciplinary proceedings against him or until further orders.
Trial court judge Avinash Singh, while granting bail to an accused, had stipulated that he would wash and iron the clothes of all women in his village to repent. The judge is said to have passed similar strange orders in other cases in the past as well.
During the hearing, the Defence Counsel had said that the accused has been in jail since April this year. He does laundry work and wants to serve the society. The Counsel for the petitioner also said that the complainant is ready for reconciliation, and an affidavit has been attached in this regard.
After this, the court, while granting bail to the accused, ordered that he would wash and iron the clothes of all women of his village for the next six months. In the molestation case, this order given to the accused by the district court, was in great discussion.
Some of Avinash Kumar recent judicial orders, which grabbed media headlines due to unusual conditions put for granting bail to the accused persons, include:-
On August 18, accused Neeraj Kumar Safi in Andharamath police station was given bail on the condition of making five poor and illiterate women or girls of his village literate. The accused is a student of BA Part One.
On September 01, Moh Rustom got bail on the condition of cleaning the drain in front of the mohalla and the house.
On September 7, at Phulparas police station, Rajiv Kumar and Nitish Kumar, accused of black-marketing government food grains, were given bail on the condition of giving two kg pulses to 25 poor families of their village. Of these, it was mandatory to have 25 percent Dalit families.
On September 10, fisherman Mo Sajjad, accused of attacking with a knife, was granted bail on the condition of keeping a dog in the house and feeding five dogs roaming in the streets for 45 days.
Moreover on September 16, Mahendra Yadav, accused of beating a woman by entering the house armed with a weapon at Phulparas police station, was granted bail on the condition of planting 10 fruit trees in public places near the village temple and park.
In July, the judge had recommended special training to Madhubani district police officials — the Superintendent of Police, Jhanjharpur Sub-Divisional Police Officer and Bhairavsthan police station in-charge — for their “poor knowledge of law regarding crimes against minor girls”.
During his posting at the Patna civil court before Madhubani, ADJ Avinash had twice imposed costs (Rs 2500 and Rs 5000) on Patna DM and SSP.