Taking a grim view of the bail granted by Justice Om Prakash Mishra to former Uttar Pradesh Minister Gayatri Prajapati, accused in a gang rape case, the Allahabad High Court has suspended the judge.
Allahabad HC Chief Justice D.B. Bhonsle has also seized all powers of Justice Mishra, the Additional District and Sessions Court judge.
Mishra was posted in the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (Pocso) Court in Lucknow. He is set to retire on April 30.
Registrar General of the high court D.K. Singh confirmed the suspension of the judge on Saturday.
Indications of the impending action came during the hearing of a petition in the high court on Friday wherein the bail to the tainted minister was challenged by the Yogi Adityanath government.
Gayatri Prajapati was a powerful minister in the former Akhilesh Yadav cabinet and held Mining and Transport portfolios. He was accused of patronising illegal mining, a charge being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The former Amethi legislator, who bit the dust at the hustings in the assembly polls in March, was accused of raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter.
(With IANS inputs)
