Isaacs having second thoughts
2004-01-25 16:26
Bela-Bela - Mark Isaacs is not so sure any more if Judge Siraj Desai really raped his wife Salome.
"I'm not so sure it really was rape. I initially thought so, that is why I confronted Desai," said Isaacs, whose wife accused the Cape Town High Court judge of raping her in a hotel room in Mumbai, India.
However, Isaacs and his wife were determined to press civil charges against the judge.
A "visibly nervous" Isaacs, 39, told Rapport: "I'm having second thoughts. Some aspects in the story don't gel so well.
"If my wife made a mistake and made love to Desai out of her own free will, I will anyway forgive her too. We all make mistakes."
But if he and his wife split up later as a result of the incident, he would definitely bring a civil charge against the judge, he said.
Meanwhile, a retired judge said Desai should resign of his own accord, instead of returning to the bench as if nothing had happened. He said judges were bound by an ethical code, but there were no specific rules for a case like this.
Existing laws made provision for the suspension of a judge in the case of gross judicial misconduct.
In such as instance the Judicial Service Commission would investigate, put a proposal to parliament and if accepted by a two-thirds majority, the president must fire the judge.