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3. The learned Senior Advocate Mr. Pradeep Kant for the appellant raised following contentions:

i. The Enquiry against the appellant was initiated on the basis of the directions issued by the High Court in Agra Development Authority, Agra Vs. State of UP and Ors.1, though there was no complaint pending against the appellant.
ii. A mere perusal of the charges levelled against the appellant in the chargesheet on the face of it revealed that the charges did not make out even a prima facie case of misconduct and that they were neither factually nor legally substantiable. iii. The right to seek compensation is a property right and not mere a right to sue, and the same could be legally transferred 2004 SCC Online All 269 from one person to another as held by the Supreme Court and High Court in catena of decisions. In this regard, he has relied upon Union of India & Ors. Vs. Iqbal Singh2; Khorshed Shapoor Chenai Mrs Vs. Assistant Controller of Estate Duty3, Food Corporation of India Vs. Kailash Chand4 and Soran Singh Vs. Collector & Ors.5. iv. The compensation was awarded by the appellant on the market value of the land on the date of issuance of notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act. It had no relevance to the price offered or investments made by the subsequent purchasers in respect of the acquired lands. In this regard, Mr. Pradeep Kant relied upon UP Jal Nigam, Lucknow Vs. Kalra Properties (P) Ltd., Lucknow & Ors.6; Meera Sahni Vs. Lt. Governor Delhi7 etc. v. Many cases, in which the enhanced compensation was awarded by the appellant were upheld by the High Court, and in some cases by the Supreme Court and therefore it could not be said that the appellant was actuated by extraneous consideration as alleged.
(1976) 1 SCC 570 (1980) 2 SCC 1 2014 (1) ADJ 379 (DB) 2018 SCC Online All 5936 (1996) 3 SCC 124 (2008) 9 SCC 177 vi. There was no specific charge against the appellant that he had taken bribe or shown any undue favour to any person or group of persons. Hence, merely because an enhanced compensation was awarded, no inference of extraneous consideration could be drawn. Mere suspicion was not sufficient to prove that the appellant had acted because of extraneous consideration. In this regard, Mr. Pradeep Kant has relied upon the decisions in the case of Krishna Prasad Verma (Dead) Thr Legal Vs. State of Bihar & Ors.8, in case of Sadhna Chaudhary Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh9, and the latest decision of Supreme Court in case of Abhay Jain Vs. High Court of Judicature of Rajasthan & Anr.10.

15. In our opinion, showing undue favour to a party under the guise of passing judicial orders is the worst kind of judicial dishonesty and misconduct. The extraneous consideration for showing favour need not always be a monetary consideration. It is often said that “the public servants are like fish in the water, none can say when and how a fish drank the water”. A judge must decide the case on the basis of the facts on record and the law applicable to the case. If he decides a case for extraneous reasons, then he is not performing his duties in accordance with law. As often quoted, a judge, like Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion.