Collegium proposes transfer of 3 high court judges in first CJI-led meet

The other members of the collegium in the Supreme Court are justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, SA Nazeer, KM Joseph and MR Shah.

In the first collegium meeting headed by the new Chief Justice of India, Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, a decision was taken to transfer three high court judges for administrative reasons, people aware of the matter said on Thursday.

The collegium has initiated the process of transfer for Madras high court acting chief justice T Raja, Telangana high court judge A Abhishek Reddy and Gujarat high court judge Nikhil S Kariel. (HT Archive)

The collegium has initiated the process of transfer for Madras high court acting chief justice T Raja, Telangana high court judge A Abhishek Reddy and Gujarat high court judge Nikhil S Kariel. While justice Raja is proposed to be transferred to the Rajasthan high court, the other two judges have been recommended for transfer to the Patna high court, according to the people cited above.

The other members of the collegium in the Supreme Court are justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, SA Nazeer, KM Joseph and MR Shah.

With the proposed transfer of justice Raja, the Madras high court may get another acting chief justice since the Union government is sitting on the collegium’s recommendation dated September 28 to transfer Orissa high court chief justice S Muralidhar as the chief justice of the Madras high court. Justice Muralidhar’s recommendation has been in limbo for more than six weeks and the collegium is yet to hear from the government if there are any objections to the judge’s transfer.

Withholding of names by the government invited the ire of the Supreme Court last week when the court said that the endless hold-up by the Centre in clearing names is “not acceptable”. Issuing notices to two senior officials in the law ministry for November 28, a bench led by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul raised serious concerns that the government does not appoint the person nor does it communicate its objections.

Meanwhile, hours after the news of the proposed transfer of justice Kariel from the Gujarat high court broke, the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) decided to abstain from work indefinitely in protest against the collegium’s proposal. The lawyers’ body also resolved to make a representation to the Supreme Court judges who hail from the Gujarat high court. Several lawyers also showed up in the court of Gujarat high court chief justice Arvind Kumar to register their anguish against the proposal.

Similarly, the Telangana High Court Advocates Association resolved to abstain from work on Friday and Saturday in protest against the proposed transfer of justice Reddy.