A Judge is judged not only by his quality of judgments but also by the quality and purity of his character

Qualities of a good judge:

What cannot be ignored is also the fact that once when the petitioner being appointed as a member of judicial service unlike other employment or profession, judicial service is in itself a class apart. Judges in the judicial service is not merely in employment, nor are the judges mere employees, they are the holders of a post by which they exercise judicial powers. Their office is one with great trust and responsibility. Any act of injustice or misdeed by a judicial officer would lead to a disastrous and deleterious situation having grave adverse consequence.[Para No.26]

    It is always expected that a judicial officer discharges his work and duties in tranquillity and he has to behave and conduct in a manner as if he is a hermit.[Para No.27]

    So far as the conduct part is concerned, the Judges should always maintain and enforce a high standard of conduct which he should personally observe. It is always expected that a judicial officer shall apart from maintaining high level of integrity, should have great judicial discipline and should always try to avoid impropriety. Judge should always be sensitive to the situation around him and should avoid being overactive or over-reactive. It is always expected from a Judge to perform himself most diligently and should not get himself engaged in behavior that is harassing, abusive, prejudiced or biased.[Para No.28]

    Talking on the elements of judicial behaviour it has always been said that Judges shall remain accountable for their actions and decisions. A Judge's official conduct should be free from impropriety and the appearance of impropriety; he should avoid infractions of law; and his personal behaviour, not only upon the Bench and in the performance of judicial duties, but also in his everyday life, should be beyond reproach. Accordingly an act of the Judge whether in official or on personal capacity which erodes the credibility of the judicial institution has to be avoided.[Para No.29]

Information recorded u/s.27 of Evidence Act by a Police Officer which is confessional in nature, is not admissible in evidence

The learned trial court arrived at a conclusion of guilt of the accused appellant primarily on the basis of three circumstances. The first conclusion of the trial court was based on the so-called evidence of disclosure i.e., the accused gave an information to the I.O. under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act and led him to the place where he had allegedly strangled Smt. Mohini. In this regard, it is a settled proposition of law that such part of information of the accused recorded by a Police Officer which is confessional in nature, cannot be proved and as a consequence, is not admissible in evidence.

Manifestly, the inculpating part of the information (Ex.P/14) wherein, the accused allegedly admitted to have killed Smt. Mohini is totally inadmissible because the same would be hit by Section 25 of the Evidence Act. It may be stated here that the Site Inspection Plan (Ex.P/8) which the I.O. prepared on the basis of the information provided by the accused, records that a cot was lying at point 'X' in a room where Sheshkaran Dan admitted to have murdered his wife Smt. Mohini. Manifestly, the confession of the accused as is recorded in this document, is totally inadmissible and has to be excluded from consideration. The remaining part of the document, simply records presence of a cot at mark 'X' in the room. Obviously, when the husband and wife were living together in the house, presence of a cot in their room was but natural. Therefore, the conclusion drawn by the trial court in the impugned Judgment that the disclosure made by the accused pointing out the cot where he allegedly murdered Smt. Mohini was incriminating in nature, is absolutely baseless and frivolous.[Para No.9]