New Delhi, Dec. 21 -- The administrative turmoil that erupted in the Sikkim high court earlier this month had, in fact, been preceded by a formal complaint from the court's registrar general and a subsequent intervention sought by then chief justice Biswanath Somadder from Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, official correspondence accessed by Hindustan Times shows.

Justice Somadder wrote to the CJI on December 13, flagging what he described as the "conduct" of justice Meenakshi Madan Rai -- currently the acting chief -- a day after the registrar general of the Sikkim high court, Prajwal Khatiwada, complained of being "humiliated and mistreated" by justice Rai in her chambers. The letter was sent on justice Somadder's penultimate working ...