The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking the formulation of guidelines governing judicial recusals, reiterating that the decision to step aside from a case is entirely at the discretion of the concerned judge.

A Bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that Article 142 of the Constitution — which empowers the Court to do “complete justice” — could not be invoked to frame such guidelines.

The petition, which followed an earlier plea withdrawn last year, had raised concerns over the recusal of Justice M Nagaprasanna from hearing three petitions in the Karnataka High Court. At that time, the Supreme Court had cautioned that such demands could send “wrong signals” but allowed the petitioners to return with a more focused plea limited to seeking guidelines.

During Friday’s hearing, Advocate Nisha Tiwari, representing the petitioners, argued that clear rules were essential to avoid arbitrary recusals and promote transparency. She referred to practices in other jurisdictions where judges proactively disclose potential conflicts of interest.

However, the Bench declined to entertain the proposal, stressing the inherently personal nature of recusal decisions.
“As far as recusal of judges is concerned, it is a matter of discretion of the concerned judges. It is for them to decide whether reasons for recusal are to be disclosed,” the Court observed.

In response to concerns that the High Court case had remained unlisted for nine months following Justice Nagaprasanna’s recusal, the Supreme Court allowed the petitioners to approach the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court for listing the matter.
“We permit the petitioners to move the Chief Justice of the Hon’ble High Court to get her matter listed. We are sure that if such an application is made, the Chief Justice will assign a bench,” the Court added.