The Supreme Court judge who authored the judgment to ban Jallikattu approached the apex court to quash proceedings initiated against him by the Madras High Court in a PIl alleging ‘judicial impropriety’ against him for accepting an award from People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the same organisation that had petitioned to Court against Jallikattu.
The former judge, Justice KS Panicker Radhakrishnan who retired on May 14, 2014 was part of a two-judge bench that declared Jallikattu to be illegal. The order came on a petition filed by Animal Welfare Board, PETA and several others. Almost a year after retirement, PETA honoured Justice Radhakrishnan with the "Man of the Year" award at a function held in February 2015. The petition in the Madras HC by one S Chakrapani said that the judge committed a constitutional impropriety by accepting the award. The HC issued notice to the retired judge on January 31 seeking his response to the allegation. This prompted Justice Radharkshnan to challenge the legality of the order by filing a petition in Supreme Court. On Friday, the petition was mentioned by senior advocate Sidharth luthra demanding an urgent hearing. The bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar posted the matter for hearing on Monday. In his petition, the former judge claimed protection under the Judges Protection Act 1985, besides the Constitutional protection enjoyed by functionaries such as judges of Supreme Court and High Courts, who perform sensitive functions.
Section 3 of the states, “no Court shall entertain or continue any civil or criminal proceeding against any person who is or was a judge for any act, thing or word committed, done or spoken by him when, or in the course of, acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official or judicial duty or function.”