NEW DELHI: A sitting judge of the Supreme Court publicly criticising its collegium that appoints and transfers judges to the higher judiciary is decidedly rare. However, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Saturday stuck his neck out by questioning a decision of the collegium to transfer a high court judge at the request of the Central government.
Observing that the executive has absolutely no say in the matter of transfer and postings of judges, Justice Bhuyan made the larger point that judges should not be seen as bending over backwards to justify denial of liberty or human rights. He warned that “if we lose our credibility, nothing will be left of the judiciary.”
Justice Bhuyan made the point while delivering the G V Pandit memorial lecture on “Constitutional Morality and Democratic Governance” at ILS Law College, Pune.
“When the collegium records that the transfer of a high court judge was being made at the request of the Central government, it reveals a striking intrusion of executive influence into what is constitutionally supposed to be an independent process,” he asserted.
In October last year, the collegium headed by the then Chief Justice of India B R Gavai had revised its initial proposal to transfer Justice Atul Sreedharan from the Madhya Pradesh High Court to the Chhattisgarh High Court, recommending instead his transfer to the Allahabad High Court. The collegium said the change was made following a government request.
In Chhattisgarh, Justice Sreedharan would have joined the High Court collegium, whereas in Allahabad his seniority would be much lower. The decision drew criticism due to his reputation as an independent judge. Earlier, Justice Sreedharan had taken suo motu action against a Madhya Pradesh minister for remarks against a serving female Colonel.
Justice Bhuyan, without naming Justice Sreedharan questioned the reason for his transfer from one HC to another, just because he had passed certain inconvenient orders against the government. “Does it not affect the independence of the judiciary?” he asked.