The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday temporarily stayed a Central government circular that imposed a three-year ban on former Karnataka High Court judge, Justice Padmaraj Nemachandra Desai, preventing him from taking up any government appointments. 

A single-judge bench led by Justice R. Devdas issued an interim order halting the circular, which was issued by the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions on November 7 of last year. 

The stay will remain in effect until February 6, the next date for hearing, after Senior Counsel Uday Holla, representing Desai, argued that the retired judge had not been afforded a fair hearing and that the Union government had violated the principles of justice when issuing the debarment order.

In July 2024, the Central government issued a notification appointing Justice Padmaraj Nemachandra Desai as a judicial member of the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) bench in Hyderabad. However, at that time, Desai was already serving as the chairperson of a one-man judicial commission established by the Karnataka government to investigate alleged irregularities in the allotment of sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), a case involving current Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as an accused.

Senior Advocate Uday Holla informed the Court that two weeks after Desai learned of his CAT appointment, he wrote to both the President of India and the Union government on August 14, 2024, expressing his gratitude for the appointment. However, he also mentioned that he had already accepted the chairmanship of the Karnataka commission, which had a six-month term. Holla argued that Desai requested the postponement of his CAT appointment until he completed his current assignment, but the government proceeded to cancel his CAT appointment and issued a circular barring him from any future government appointments for three years.

Holla further pointed out that the circular inaccurately stated that Desai had declined the CAT appointment due to personal reasons. He also noted that Union government rules require candidates selected for judicial positions to give consent before their names are forwarded to the Cabinet’s appointments committee. Additionally, the rules stipulate that if a candidate does not join within 30 days, they must be given notice to either join or face debarment, clearly outlining the consequences of non-joining.

However, Holla emphasized that in this case, no consent was sought from Desai, and no hearing was provided before the debarment was imposed.

The Court observed these submissions and granted an ad interim stay on the debarment. Notices were issued to the Union government, and the Court scheduled a hearing for February 6 to further address the matter.