A new controversy over Justice Nath, present Lokayukta of Nagaland catches ears of people

A new controversy over Justice Nath, present Lokayukta of Nagaland catches ears of people

A new controversy took the ears of people especially the Nagaland youth when the Lokayukta of Nagaland, a retired chief justice of the Meghalaya High Court, Justice Uma Nath Singh came into the media’s attention for asking “unjust and arbitrary” personal demands. The petition for the issue was addressed by a three-judge bench, comprising of Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian as they have asked Justice Uma Nath to respond within two weeks’ time period.

The actual question of interrogation came into play when, Justice Nath instead of complete discreet orders of not taking any decisions outside the statutory powers and capacity, delved into the matters of arbitration work in Synergy Ispat Pvt Ltd vs Barbara Elizabet Simoes case. The issues highlighted on the demand were vague and ancillary. Justice Nath demanded Kohima’s Kohima commissioner of police be present for his arrivals and departure each time at the airport for the safety purposes, also he asked for deployment of army for his personal safety. Additionally, he asked for CM’s old bungalow for residence and asked for portray of his photo in the govt. site in adjacent to the CM and Governor’s photograph.

There have been lot of controversies revolving around him Justice Balgopal mentioned that before joining the Meghalaya high court, Justice Singh was a judge in the Allahabad high court. He was transferred to Allahabad from the Punjab and Haryana high court after repeated conflicts between him and the members of that High Court Bar Association. “The first episode was the unusual order passed by Justice Uma Nath wherein he had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to send advocate Tahar Singh to mental asylum declaring him a lunatic. The bar had gone one an indefinite strike after the order,” an Indian Express report said in June 2009.The report cited another incident, a verbal altercation, between Justice Singh and a Punjab high court lawyer after which the lawyer gave a written complaint to the president of the Bar Association, who in turn, had reported the matter to the chief justice.

By Nischay Pokhriyal

A new controversy over Justice Nath, present Lokayukta of Nagaland catches ears of people