NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday distanced itself from the developments that led to the resignation of Karnataka High Court's senior-most judge Jayant Patel, who had ordered a CBI investigation in the controversial Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case in Gujarat.
"No proposal of his transfer has been received by us," Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after a cabinet meeting. He was responding to a query on the issue.
Justice Patel on Monday resigned reportedly for not being elevated as Chief Justice.
It is believed that Justice Patel, who was Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court before being posted to Bengaluru, resigned in a huff over his transfer to the Allahabad High Court, where he would be the third most senior judge.
Justice Patel had not only ordered a CBI investigation in 2011 in the controversial fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan but had also monitored the probe, which included looking into the role of officials of the Intelligence Bureau.
He was sworn in as a judge of Karnataka High Court on February 13 last year, while he was appointed the Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on August 13, 2015.
Ishrat Jahan, 19, was killed by Gujarat police in an alleged encounter near Ahmedabad in June 2004.