Kerala judiciary jolted by allegations of sexual misbehaviour by Family Court judge

The Kerala High Court has ordered a probe against a judge of a family court in Kollam after a few women complainants in the court accused him of sexual misbehaviour. As many as three complaints of sexual misbehaviour have been raised against him, it is reliably learnt.

This marks the second time in the last six months that allegations of sexual misconduct have been raised against judicial officers in the State.

The Administrative Committee (AC) of the High Court has ordered a probe against V. Udayakumar, Judge, Family Court, Chavara. The Registrar (District Judiciary), who will probe the allegation, has been asked to file his report. The AC will consider the report on Tuesday.

The High Court initiated the inquiry after the woman litigant filed a written complaint to the Principal District Judge, Kollam, detailing the alleged sexual misbehaviour that took place inside the chamber of the judge in the court complex, sources said.

The judicial officer was transferred as presiding officer of the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Kollam, with immediate effect on August 20 “in view of the administrative exigencies,” read an order issued by the Registrar (District Judiciary). The official has been asked not to discharge any judicial responsibilities until further orders. The AC, after taking into account the inquiry report, will initiate suitable action. The complainant has so far not approached the police, sources said.

The absence of written complaints often hampers investigation in such cases and the High Court will be constrained to limit the action against the alleged offenders to disciplinary proceedings, judicial sources maintained.

Meanwhile, a district judge of Kozhikode who earlier faced similar allegations was reinstated in the service recently after being suspended from the service for nearly six months. Shobha Annamma Koshy, a woman judge of the High Court, is probing the incident. A section of the court staff had publicly protested against the officer after the authorities reportedly failed to act against him. The alleged victim in the case chose not to file a complaint with the Internal Complaints Committee of the Kozhikode Court complex as well as the police, which hamstrung the investigation, sources indicated.