A judge facing a departmental inquiry cannot insist on a lawyer, Kerala High Court holds

27 October 2026

Justice P. Gopinath of the Kerala High Court dismissed a writ petition by a serving Additional District and Sessions Judge who sought to engage a legal practitioner in the departmental inquiry against him. The Court held that Rule 15(6) of the Kerala Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1960 bars the engagement of a legal practitioner during such an enquiry, and that the officer may instead take the assistance of another judicial officer. It also held that Rule 15(3), which lets the Inquiring Authority amend, alter or modify charges, carries no stage-specific limit, so a revised memo of charges issued after witnesses were examined could not be struck down. The Court relied on the Supreme Court's decision in Dinesh Chandra Pandey v. High Court of Madhya Pradesh (2010), and left the officer free to seek more time to reply and to ask that witnesses be recalled.