Justice SG Mehare of the Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court recently held that "a single-line reason is not expected from senior judges like district judges.

The Court reprimanded a sessions judge for not giving a detailed reasoned order while quashing an order of a judicial magistrate. The Court also criticized a sessions judge at Aurangabad for erroneously observing without giving reasons that the magistrate has not properly appreciated the evidence in proper perspective in a domestic violence case. 

Justice Mehare held that, “The judge has recorded a single-line reason that there is sufficient evidence to establish the domestic violence caused to the wife. Such a single line reason is not expected from senior judges like district judges. He appears to have ignored the rules of writing judgment in appeal”.

He further stated that “Writing a judgment in appeal is rewriting the judgment. The appellate court has to re-appreciate evidence and assign reasons for its conclusion. Merely writing a single line without failing to consider evidence, material placed on record and the facts elicited in proper perspective is incorrect in law”.

The court further observed that “This Court is of the view that it is well-reasoned order and with correct findings that the wife failed to prove the domestic violence. However, the sessions judge appears to have not correctly examined the record, considered the rule of appreciating the evidence, and mechanically passed the order (in appeal). The order is illegal, improper and incorrect, and therefore, it is liable to be set aside”.

Case Details:-

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, BENCH AT AURANGABAD
CRIMINAL REVISION APPLICATION NO.36 OF 2020