Patna: The Patna high court has ruled that officers functioning as quasi-judicial authorities must use “temperate language” in their orders and avoid irrelevant remarks that may damage a litigant’s personal reputation.A single bench of justice Alok Kumar, while disposing of a writ petition filed by former Sanskrit University vice-chancellor Dev Narayan Jha, held that quasi-judicial bodies must decide cases strictly on facts and law. Remarks on a litigant’s personal character, unrelated to the legal merits, violate principles of fair hearing. The order was passed on Friday and made public on Saturday.Quoting Shakespeare’s “Othello”, the court observed, “Personal reputation of a person is priceless and it cannot be retrieved like money and materials if robbed by a slander, the victim is left completely ruined.”Justice Alok expunged a remark made by the Sitamarhi DM against Jha in a Feb 25, 2023 order under the Right to Public Service (RTPS) Act.
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The DM, acting as appellate authority under the Act, had described Jha as having a grudge and a harassing attitude towards members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.The dispute arose over a clogged drainage system affecting Jha’s farmland in Riga block. Authorities had disputed his RTPS claim as false.
