The list also included the Gujarat High Court judge who denied stay of Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in the Modi surname defamation case.
Published Aug 12, 2023 | 2:14 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 12, 2023 | 2:14 AM
The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of a total of 23 judges across various high courts. (Creative Commons)
The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of 23 judges across the country.
Among these are seven judges from South India — four from Telangana, two from Andhra Pradesh, and one from the Karnataka High Court — and the judge of the Gujarat High Court who had declined to stay the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case arising from his Modi surname remark.
These are part of the recommendations for transfer made by the Supreme Court Collegium on 3 August and 10 August.
The Telangana High Court judges who have been recommended for transfer are Justice C Sumalatha, Justice M Sudheer Kumar, Justice Munnuri Laxman, and Justice G Anupama Chakravarthy.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court judges recommended for transfer are Justice C Manavendranath Roy and Justice Duppala Venkata Ramana.
Justice Narendra G of the Karnataka High Court too has been recommended for transfer to the Orissa High Court.
However, most of the judges made representations to the collegium, seeking reconsideration of the proposal to transfer them. They alternately requested to be transferred to the high court of their respective neighbouring state.
In the case of Justice C Sumalatha, the Collegium — upon considering her representation — decided to transfer her to the Karnataka High Court, instead of the initial recommendation of transferring her to the Gujarat High Court.
In the case of Justice Narendra G, the Collegium decided to recommend his transfer to the Andhra Pradesh High Court instead of the Orissa High Court, as initially proposed on 3 August.
Justice Sudheer Kumar too has been recommended to be transferred to the Madras High Court instead of the Calcutta High Court.
However, in the case of Justice Munnuri Laxman, Justice G Anupama Chakravarthy, Justice C Manavendranath Roy, Justice Duppala Venkata Ramana, the Collegium reiterated its recommendations to transfer them.
Justice Munnuri Laxman has been recommended for transfer to Rajasthan High Court, Justice G Anupama Chakravarthy has been recommended to be transferred to Patna High Court, , Justice C Manavendranath Roy has been recommended for transfer to Gujarat High Court, and Justice Duppala Venkata Ramana has been recommended to be transferred to Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Justice Hemant M Prachchhak, who on 7 July dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark, has also been recommended to be transferred to the Patna High Court.
While dismissing the plea, Justice Prachchhak had noted that Gandhi was already facing 10 criminal cases across the country and that the order of the lower court — handing down a two-year jail term to Gandhi for his remarks — was “just, proper, and legal”.
On 4 August, the Supreme Court stayed Gandhi’s conviction in the defamation case, paving the way for the restoration of his Lok Sabha membership.
The Supreme Court Collegium — headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, and Justice Surya Kant — in its meeting held on 3 August recommended the transfer of nine judges of various high courts for “better administration of justice”.
On 10 August, the collegium additionally recommended the transfer of another 14 high court judges.
According to the collegium resolution, the other three judges of the Gujarat High Court — Justice Alpesh Y Kogje, Justice Kumari Gita Gopi, and Justice Samir J Dave — have been recommended to be transferred to the high courts of Allahabad, Madras, and Rajasthan, respectively.
According to the 3 August resolution, the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan, Justice Avneesh Jhingan, Justice Raj Mohan Singh, and Justice Arun Monga have been recommended to be transferred to the high courts of Allahabad, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, respectively.
The collegium has also recommended the transfer of Allahabad High Court judge Justice Vivek Kumar Singh to the Madras High Court.
