MANILA, Philippines?The Supreme Court threw out the criminal complaint filed against two retired Supreme Court justices over a land row ruling that favored the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

In a 15-page per curiam (anonymous) decision, the high court said the graft case against former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr. and retired associate justice Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez failed to prove they ?acted with partiality, bad faith or negligence."

In November 2003 resolution, the Supreme Court favored the UP?S claim over a 78-hectare property along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. Private claimants Jorge Chin and Renato Mallari were contesting UP?s ownership claim.

They filed corruption charges against Davide and Martinez after they concurred with the resolution penned by then justice and now Chief Justice Reynato Puno, which reversed an earlier final decision of the court declaring Chin and Mallari as the real owners of the property.

The counsel for the complainants said the action of the two magistrates constituted corrupt practices by causing undue injury to Mallari and Chin, and giving undue advantage or preference and unwarranted benefits to UP, which has since leased the property to Ayala Land.

The high court said a mere disagreement with the magistrate's own conclusion does not justify a criminal charge.