Road rage controversy: Karnataka High Court transfers Malur judge to Humnabad

The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday transferred Gayathri, Principal Civil Judge and JMFC, Malur in Kolar district, to Humnabad in Bidar district, citing “administrative reasons and in the interest of public service”.

The transfer comes on the heels of her alleged conduct in a road rage case involving her private car in Malur, a video of which went viral on social media. After registering a complaint against a youth, his mother and grandmother, she herself passed a judicial order permitting the jurisdictional police to delete from social media the viral videos containing a squabble involving her, her husband, the youth and his family members.

As the youth and his family filed a petition challenging the First Information Report (FIR) registered on the basis of her complaint, a single-judge Bench of the High Court last week stayed the FIR and made scathing remarks against her for acting as “a judge in her own cause” by adjudicating proceedings in the criminal case initiated on her complaint. The single judge also directed that the matter be placed before the Chief Justice for taking action against her on the administrative side.