The straight forward answer to this question itself is a huge “YES”. One can write a letter to the Judge who is heading his/her case. But the letter must strictly stick to the point of writing the letter, also it must not indicate a thing which is not legally permissible. As if the judge reads the letter and finds that the writer wants to distract him from the case then it may lead to the letter going against the writer during the trials of the case further it can also lead to negative thoughts against the writer during the trials and can further worsen the case. A letter misguiding the judge could lead to a penalty, or even the Judge not trusting his testimony during the court trials.
Who can write a letter to the Judge:
Any person who wants to inform the Judge regarding a case and is scared to say it in front of the court due to any reason that could be one don’t want some fact to be heard in the public or he/she is scared to same about the matter in someone else’s presence etc.
Why should one write a letter to a Judge:
It is often said that “humanity is above all”, this same line stands strong against the judges as well. Being at such a responsible position and ensuring Justice delivered to all, it’s not a hard thing for the judge to understand your problem and consider your letter on Humanitarian grounds. Judges at the end of the day are also humans they know what’s right and what’s not, thus there are high chances that he will consider the letter written to him and could also show faith in the person. But if found misleading then this could leave to the worst possible situations in the trial rooms.
Issues with writing a letter to Judge:
It has been seen in the past that people of the legal system have been accused of corruption and our legal system of long delays in giving a decision of a case. Many people have lost faith in the legal system but yet the legal system of our country is far better than others. There are corruption charges on a few in our system but that doesn’t mean the whole system is corrupt. Also, we need to take into consideration that no two people nor two cases are similar. Thus, one should never lose hope.
How to write a letter to Judge:
The letter written to a judge must be in the simplest possible language. It must be in a legal format that includes the date, subject, etc. other than this a letter must be easily understandable. There must not be words or language which is difficult to understand (these things just help the judge to understand the matter). There is no special or different format to write a letter to the judge just the details must be mentioned properly.
Many people write letters to Judges, especially defendants who are facing charges and are in jail. These letters are generally considered as an admission of guilt, apologies letter, promise to stay out of trouble, etc. There have been instances in the past wherein such letters have been considered as a major factor in giving a decision in a case such as Elephant G Rajendran vs Mr.R.K.Chandramohan on 7/12/2010.[1] In this mentioned case the decision of the court completely changed just due to a letter that was misleading the judges.
So yes, writing a letter to the judge helps but it must be misleading and must stick directly to the point so that the judge and the legal system can help someone and deliver justice at the earliest.
[1] Statement of Judge while giving decision:- We also noted the averments of the petitioner in his affidavit, where it was stated that the learned Judge has written a letter to the Hon’ble The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, we directed the Registrar General of this Court to inform the Court as to any such letter has been addressed by the learned Judge to the Hon’ble The Chief Justice. It was further directed that if any such letter had really been addressed, to circulate the same to this Court. Apart from making an attempt to influence the learned Judge, the letter of the learned Judge discloses that he also attempted to influence him by stating that some other Union Minister wanted to talk to the learned Judge which the learned Judge stated to have politely declined and also advised him not to make any such attempt to interfere in the judicial administration.
Reference:
1)https://indiankanoon.org/docfragment/233564/formInput=letter%20to%20judge
This Article is Authored by Devesh Nath Tiwari, 3rd Year, B.A LL.B Studnet at Fairfield Institute of Management and Technology.
Also Read – Can We Write Directly To A Judge?
