NEW DELHI: Supreme Court collegium by way of resolutions uploaded late at night on Thursday has recommended the transfer of 23 HC judges belonging to various HCs.
The list also finds mention of Gujarat HC judge Justice M. Prachchhak who had refused to stay Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction. The collegium has recommended his transfer to Patna HC for “better administration of justice.”
Apart from Justice Prachchhak, the collegium citing the same reason has also recommended the transfer of eight HC judges belonging to HCs of Gujarat and Punjab and Haryana.
Names of other Gujarat HC judges Justices A.Y. Kogje, K. Gita Gopi, and Samir J. Dave have been recommended to be transferred to Allahabad, Madras and Rajasthan, respectively. Punjab and Haryana HC judges Justices Arvind Singh Sanghwan, Avneesh Jhingan, Raj Mohan Singh and Arun Monga have been recommended to be transferred to Allahabad, Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan respectively.
Although the resolution to transfer them has been uploaded on August 10, their names were recommended on August 3, 2023.
This perhaps interestingly is not only the highest number of transfers that have been recommended by the SC collegium in one go but also the highest number of refusals to accede to the requests that have been put forth by various judges.
Refusing to accede to AP HCs judge Justice Duppala Venkata Ramana’s request of transferring him to Karnataka HC, the collegium has instead proposed his transfer to MP HC. Declining to stay Allahabad High Court judge, Justice Rajendra Kumar-IV’s transfer for six months, the collegium has recommended his transfer to MP HC. Turning down Andhra Pradesh High Court judge, Justice C. Manavendranath Roy's request to Telangana HC, his name has been proposed for transfer to Gujarat.
Turning down Allahabad HCs judge Justice Prakash Padia's request, the collegium has proposed his transfer to Jharkhand. Justice Padia had requested for transferring him to Madhya Pradesh, Patna or Uttarakhand.