Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has upheld the dismissal of a court employee who was found guilty of manipulating the age of a convicted prisoner in judicial records to enable him to claim the benefit of a govt scheme for the release of elderly prisoners.In Jan 2000, the state govt introduced a scheme for the release of prisoners who had undergone more than three years of imprisonment and were above 60 years of age.Justice Anish Kumar Gupta, in his order dated Nov 2, observed that manipulation of age in a judicial record amounted to serious misconduct as it constituted direct interference with the administration of justice.The court held that no lenient view could be taken in respect of such misconduct and dismissed the employee’s writ petition challenging her dismissal from service.The court passed the order while dealing with a writ petition filed by Seema Sharma, challenging the Oct 2010 order passed by the administrative judge.The said order had enhanced the punishment imposed on her by the district judge, Muzaffarnagar, from stoppage of one increment for two years to dismissal from service.The petitioner had allegedly manipulated the judicial record of the 1977 sessions trial in which one Juber had been convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a judgment passed in November 1978.For determining eligibility under the scheme, the prisoner’s age was to be ascertained on the basis of the age mentioned in his statement recorded under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).The original judicial record mentioned Juber’s age as 19 years when his statement was recorded. However, in an answer to a questionnaire dated September 13, 2000, Sharma manipulated the record and mentioned his age as 38 years.It was later found that the prisoner’s age recorded in the Section 313 CrPC statement had been manipulated.After the inquiry, the district judge, Muzaffarnagar, imposed the punishment of stoppage of one increment for two years under Rule 4(d) of the UP Subordinate Court Staff (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1976.However, when Sharma challenged the punishment before the administrative judge, the appellate authority considered the charges serious and issued a show-cause notice proposing enhancement of the punishment to dismissal from service.After considering her reply, the administrative judge, through an order passed in Oct 2010, enhanced the punishment to dismissal from service and dismissed her petition.
