The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the transfer of 24 high court judges, including two from Gujarat who recently dealt with appeals from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and rights defender Teesta Setalvad.
According to the collegium, the transfers had been effected “for better administration of justice”. The recommendations have to be formally cleared by the President.
Justice Hemant M. Prachhak, who had on July 7 dismissed Rahul’s plea for staying his conviction in a defamation case related to his “Modi surname” remark, has been transferred to Patna High Court.
While dismissing Rahul’s appeal, the judge had recorded a finding that there were 10 other criminal cases pending against the leader, including one filed by V.D. Savarkar’s grandson.
The Supreme Court stayed Rahul’s conviction on August 4.
Justice Samir Dave of Gujarat High Court, who had on August 8 recused himself from hearing a petition filed by Setalvad for quashing the FIR against her for alleged fabrication of documents to implicate high functionaries in the 2002 communal riots, has been shifted to Rajasthan High Court.
Calcutta judges
The list of judges to be transferred includes three Calcutta High Court judges — Justice Shekhar B. Saraf to Allahabad High Court, Justice Lapita Banerjee to Punjab and Haryana High Court and Justice Bibek Chaudhari to Patna High Court.
The collegium, which made the recommendation for the transfer of the three Calcutta High Court judges on August 3, turned down their plea for reconsideration and iterated the recommendation on August 10.
The collegium also rejected the request of Justice S.P. Kesarwani of Allahabad High Court and Justice Madhuresh Prasad of Patna High Court seeking reconsideration of their transfer to Calcutta High Court. The collegium said it found no merit in their pleas.
The following judges have also been recommended for transfer: Justice Vivek Kumar Singh, from Allahabad High Court to Madras High Court; Justice Alpesh Y. Kogje, from Gujarat High Court to Allahabad High Court; Justice Kumari Gita Gopi, from Gujarat High Court to Madras High Court; Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan, from Punjab and Haryana High Court to Allahabad High Court; Justice Avnesh Jhingan, from Punjab and Haryana High Court to Gujarat High Court; Justice Raj Mohan Singh, from Punjab and Haryana High Court to Madhya Pradesh High Court; and Justice Arun Monga, from Punjab and Haryana High Court to Rajasthan High Court.
The other judges whose transfer has been reiterated by the collegium are Justice Prakash Padia, from Allahabad High Court to Jharkhand High Court; Justice C. Manavendranath Roy, from Andhra Pradesh High Court to Gujarat High Court; Justice Duppala Venkata Ramana, from Andhra Pradesh High Court to Madhya Pradesh High Court; Justice G. Annapurna Chakravarthy, from Telangana High Court to Patna High Court; Justice Munnuri Laxman, from Telangana High Court to Rajasthan High Court; and Justice Sudheer Singh, from Patna High Court to Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The collegium has conceded the request of the following judges for reconsideration of their transfer: Justice Sudheer Kumar of Telangana High Court who was initially transferred to Calcutta High Court will be relocated to Madras High Court; Justice C. Sumalatha of Telangana High Court who had initially been transferred to Gujarat High Court will be sent to Karnataka High Court; and Justice Narender G. of Karnataka High Court who will be transferred to Andhra Pradesh High Court instead of Orissa High Court.
The decisions were taken between August 3 and August 11 but were formally made public on Friday by the five-member collegium of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant.
