NEW DELHI: Former Supreme Court judge Justice K S Panicker Radhakrishnan moved the SC on Friday seeking quashing of proceedings against him in the Madurai bench of the Madras HC, which has issued notice to him on a PIL asking him to return a PETA award received in 2015 several months after his retirement.At the height of the pro-jallikattu agitation in Tamil Nadu, a 62-year-old agriculturist had filed a petition in the HC alleging that since a bench headed by Justice Radhakrishnan had banned use of bulls in jallikattu in May 2014 on petitions by Animal Welfare Board of India, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and others, the ex-SC judge committed constitutional impropriety by receiving PETA’s ‘Man of the Year’ award in 2015. The HC had issued notice to the ex-judge on January 31.The agriculturist, Salai Chakrapani, alleged that by receiving the award for a judgment, the ex-judge had violated the constitutional provision which bars judges from receiving any favour from anyone for any judgment.He requested the HC to direct Justice Radhakrishnan to return the award.Intrigued by the proceedings against him, Justice Radhakrishnan rushed to the SC and cited Section 3 of Judges Protection Act, 1985, which says, “No court shall entertain or continue any civil or criminal proceeding against any person who is or was a judge for any act, thing or word committed, done or spoken by him when, or in the course of, acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official or judicial duty or function.”Referring to additional constitutional protection given to judges to independently discharge their duties, Justice Radhakrishnan said the HC had “unfortunately and irrationally” drawn the proceedings without proper application of mind to the provisions of the Constitution and Judges Protection Act.“Functions carried out by members of the judiciary are sensitive in nature and such action ought not to be degraded in the light of the vexatious and baseless petitions,” he said.Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra mentioned Justice Radhakrishnan’s petition before a bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices N V Ramana and D Y Chandrachud for urgent hearing. The bench posted it for Monday.Highlighting the irrationality of the petition filed against him, the ex-judge said he was felicitated as ‘Man of the Year’ at a function organised by PETA on February 7, 2015, nearly nine months after he had retired from the SC.