“In the interest of justice, he should be transferred,” this is what former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice V K Jain wrote — barely weeks before his retirement on August 1 — to Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, recommending that Justice Mehtab Singh Gill be moved out.

In his 12-page letter, Justice Jain questioned the judicial propriety of Justice Gill opting to be administrative judge of Ludhiana when he was aware that a property case involving his son, advocate Amandeep Singh Gill, was pending in Ludhiana.

Justice Jain objected to the fact that Justice Gill did not disclose this to him. “He (Justice Jain) didn’t ask me about it,” Justice Gill told The Indian Express when asked for comment. “Since there was nothing wrong, the issue was not discussed.” (see box).

The son’s case involves a plot in Moga measuring 74 kanals and 15 marlas. A suit contesting the possession of the land by the Punjab government and the state’s Chief Agricultural Officer — for use by a government seed farm — was filed on October 3, 1998 by Justice Gill’s son Amandeep Singh Gill, a lawyer in Moga.

The case was transferred from Moga to Ludhiana after the manager of the seed farm filed an application to Justice M L Singhal — then the administrative judge for Moga — during the judge’s annual inspection. Justice Singhal has since retired.

The manager claimed that because Amandeep Singh Gill was the son of Justice Gill and both were from Moga, the case could be influenced. His request was accepted — and the case transferred from Moga to Ludhiana on April 30, 2001.

... contd.