A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh directed that the two officers be reinstated in service within 15 days; the court said the verdict also discusses issue of women in Indian judiciary
Representational Image
The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the orders terminating the services of two women judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh in 2023, terming the action as "punitive, arbitrary and illegal", reported news agency PTI.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh directed that the two officers be reinstated in service within 15 days, reported PTI.
"The termination of these two judicial officers is punitive, arbitrary and therefore illegal," Justice Nagarathna said while pronouncing the verdict, reported PTI.
Justice Nagarathna said the verdict also discusses issue of women in Indian judiciary.
On December 17, 2024, the top court had reserved its verdict in the matter pertaining to the termination of two women judicial officers by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, reported PTI.
On November 11, 2023, the top court had taken a suo motu cognisance of the termination of six women civil judges by the state government over their alleged unsatisfactory performance.
However, a full court of the Madhya Pradesh High Court reconsidered its earlier resolutions on August 1, 2024 and decided to reinstate four officers-- Jyoti Varkade, Sushri Sonakshi Joshi, Sushri Priya Sharma and Rachna Atulkar Joshi -- on certain terms and conditions, leaving out the other two, Aditi Kumar Sharma and Sarita Chaudhary from the exercise.
Woman gets life sentence for killing infant daughter
A session court in Bhopal on Thursday sentenced a woman to life imprisonment for killing her one-month-old daughter and also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge Atul Saxena found Sarita Mewada guilty under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 302. Judge Saxena awarded life imprisonment to the convict and imposed the fine under the said Section.
The incident occurred in September 2020. The convict, Sarita, wished for a boy but she gave birth to a girl. Whenever she saw her daughter, she used to curse herself. Following which, one day taking advantage of a situation of being alone in the home, she killed her daughter by putting her into a water tank.
Public Prosecutor Sudhavijay Singh Bhadoria said, "The case is related to the incident that took place on September 16, 2020. Sarita said that she laid her daughter on a cot but she was not on the cot and there was none other than her in the house. Later, when searched, the little one was found dead in a water tank kept inside the house."
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
