Karnataka Chief Justice decides to close case against Krishna Bhat

New Delhi: The standoff between the judiciary and executive over the appointment of district and sessions judge Krishna Bhat to the Karnataka high court bench has taken a new turn, with chief justice deciding to close the ongoing probe against him.

On March 23, Karnataka HC chief justice Dinesh Maheshwari wrote to CJI Dipak Misra stating: “After due deliberations, the committee has resolved to close the matter in relation to Krishna Bhat.”

Earlier this month, the Centre had indicated that the broad contents of complaint, its nature and allegations ought to be examined in accordance with Vishaka guidelines.


ET has learnt that HC’s administrative committee after examining Bhat’s reply decided to give him a clean chit.

“After looking at the allegations and examining his reply/response and the record, the committee has resolved to close the matter (HVC No 175/2016)… pending in the high court since July 2016,” wrote Maheshwari.

It was revealed that a lady civil judge had filed the complaint after the sessions judge made a report on her conduct. On June 3, 2016, the lady judge had complained against Bhat and written to the then CJI. However, after making “discreet” inquiries, justice SK Mukherjee, the then chief justice, wrote to the then CJI stating it was a “concocted” complaint to “malign” Bhat.

On December 11, the lady judge again complained against Bhat to the PMO, which marked it to the law ministry. The ministry had recently forwarded the complaint directly to the Karnataka HC for “appropriate action”. And, acting on it, justice Maheshwari, on March 12, wrote to the CJI stating “reply/response of judge (Bhat) has been sought”.

ET had reported on March 20 that the Centre may have set the stage for another confrontation with SC judges by sending a complaint directly to the Karnataka HC against a judge who had already been cleared for elevation to HC by the SC collegium.

Also, there was a sense in SC over the delay in issuing orders for the judge’s appointment, revival of a “concocted” complaint and the government’s direct engagement with an HC, after two former CJIs, TS Thakur and JS Khehar, and the current CJI had approved his elevation.

Justice Maheshwari has clarified that “no new inquiry was initiated by the high court” against Bhat, and it was only after the receipt of communication from the law ministry that records were examined. “When the communication was received…from the law ministry, which indicated that the complainant had approached the PMO while alleging that her complaint had been ‘managed’ , the records were examined which indicated that even when the then chief justice of Karnataka HC stated in his letter dated 14.11.2016 to the then chief justice of India that the complaint against Bhat was baseless, the fact of the matter had been that the registered complaint case in the high court remained pending.

Even as late as 8.3.2017, the same was only deferred,” he wrote.

Bhat, in 2014, had made a report on the conduct of the lady judge and a vigilance complaint (93/2014) was registered against her with HC. In February 2016, Bhat was recommended to be elevated to the bench, and three months later the civil judge complained against him. Meanwhile, the administrative committee has also decided to close the vigilance complaint (93/2014) against the lady judge.

On March 31, ET had published a story about two former CJIs, the current CJI and a former HC chief justice finding no merit in allegations levelled by a lady judicial officer and cleared Bhat’s appointment to the HC bench.

Further, Intelligence Bureau had also not found material/evidence against Bhat to substantiate the allegations.