On 14 July, the Ministry of Law notified the transfer of Chief Justices of four high courts and 18 high court judges.
Published Jul 19, 2025 | 11:13 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 19, 2025 | 11:13 AM
Indian judiciary. (iStock)
Synopsis: Amid a major reshuffle of high court judges, the Centre approved 18 of 21 transfers recommended by the Supreme Court collegium but withheld three involving judges returning to Telangana. This sparked speculation. One version doing the rounds in judiciary is that the Centre sought clarity on the rationale, signaling shifting power dynamics in judiciary.
Transfers in judiciary usually make news, but whispers at Telangana High Court focus on three transfers not made by the Union Government despite Supreme Court collegium’s recommendations.
On 14 July, the Ministry of Law notified the transfer of Chief Justices of four high courts and 18 high court judges.
The notification followed resolution adopted by the Supreme Court collegium on 26 May, recommending transfer of 21 high court judges.
As a part of this reshuffle, the Madras High Court Chief Justice Shriram Kalpathi Rajendran has been shifted to Rajasthan. His place was swapped by Justice Manindra Mohan Srivatsava from Rajasthan. Likewise, Justices T Vinod Kumar (Telangana to Madras), Dinesh Kumar Singh (Kerala to Karnataka) and Vivek Kumar Singh (Madras to Andhra Pradesh) were among the 18 high court judges given news postings.
What has raised eyebrows and has become a topic of discussion in the corridors of judiciary was why the transfer of three of the 21 proposed – Justices K Lalitha, A Abhishekh Reddy and C Sumalatha, were not notified by the Centre.
All three, shifted out of Telangana, a couple of years ago were to be brought back. Justice Lalitha was shifted out of Hyderabad in July, 2023, Justice Abhishek Reddy in May, 2023, and Justice Sumalatha in November the same year.
Justices Lalitha and Sumalatha are currently serving Karnataka High Court while Justice Abhishek Reddy was expected to move back to Telangana from Patna High Court.
One version doing the rounds in judiciary is that the Centre sought clarification from the Supreme Court on the grounds for bringing the three back to the parent high court. “When they were moved out on certain grounds, how and why are they being shifted back,” was reportedly the query.
Incidentally, Justice Lalitha is widely considered as being close to former Chief Justice NV Ramana. Therefore, she not being considered for transfer is being interpreted as declining influence of Ramana in the higher echelons of judiciary.
Interestingly, for some months after the Telugu Desam came to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2024, Justice Ramana, whose association with the party is well known, was seen as the “voice” for Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
But those in the power corridors in Delhi seem to have lately realized that is not the case and, therefore, going by only direct communication from the government, rather than conduits.
