FACTS: Atty. Cruz filed an administrative complaint against Judge Joven for gross negligence, abuse of authority, dereliction of duty and failure to render decision within 30 days as so prescribed by the Rules on Summary Procedure in an ejectment case then pending before him despite default on the part of the defendant and proper motion from the plaintiff. The failure to decide within the said period was due to the orders of respondent inhibiting himself from the case on the ground that an administrative complaint against him filed by the defendant was then pending. Judge Joven justified his orders as to “assure the parties of the impartiality and cold neutrality of a judge”.
ISSUE: Whether Judge Joven’s orders of inhibition proper.
HELD: No. Mere filing of an administrative case against a judge is not a ground for disqualifying him from hearing the case. In the evolvement of the public perception on the judiciary, there can likely be no greater empirical data that influences it than the prompt and proper disposition of cases before the courts.
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