Patna, Aug. 11: The standing committee of Patna High Court headed by Chief Justice J.N. Bhatt has decided to initiate departmental action against former district judge of Jahanabad, Sudhansu Kumar Lal.

Lal, who was also a special CBI court judge in Patna trying Laloo Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi in the disproportionate assets case, stands accused in sexual harassment of a woman judge and irregularities like misuse of the office.

Sushma Kashyap, a first class judicial magistrate under Lal during his four-year tenure at Jahanabad that ended just a few months ago, has accused Lal of sexual harassment.

In her written complaint to the high court on June 10, Kashyap is said to have alleged that Lal was eying her with lust always and even made sexual advances whenever he got chances, even in the presence of other judicial officers.

Lal stands accused in three other cases, those being leaking question papers of a written test for the recruitment of Class III staff for the civil courts, attending an oath-taking ceremony of judges at the High Court without taking proper leave and later signing the orders of cases heard by another judge in his absence, and misuse of the official vehicle (carrying two women magistrates as alleged by Kashyap).

The standing committee, comprising seven judges, met on August 8 and ruled that separate judges will probe the accusations independently. The committee has transferred Lal to Jamui district.

The committee had met for the first time on June 20 and a couple of times last month. The case came up again with the new Chief Justice as a member of the standing committee three days ago.

Petitioner Kashyap, a resident of Patna, had been practising in the High Court before she was appointed a magistrate at Jahanabad.