SC Collegium proposes transfer of 14 judges across nine High Courts

The Supreme Court Collegium has proposed the reshuffling of judges across nine State High Courts. This is the second time in four months since Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai took charge that the Collegium has proposed substantial transfers and repatriations of High Court judges

The Collegium has proposed to the government judicial transfers of 14 judges currently serving in the nine High Courts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Kerala, Madras, Rajasthan, Allahabad, Gujarat and Calcutta. One of the 14 judges would be transferred to the High Court of Karnataka, while two of the judges were proposed for repatriation to the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Andhra Pradesh would also receive a transferred judge if the government clears the Collegium recommendation.

The decision to transfer and repatriate the High Court judges was taken in Collegium meetings held on August 25 and August 26, which have already seen controversy with Justice B.V. Nagarathna dissenting to the proposal to elevate Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi to the apex court.

The Collegium resolution, which was published only on August 27, recommended the transfers of Justices Atul Sreedharan from Madhya Pradesh to Chhattisgarh; Sanjay Agrawal from Chhattisgarh to Allahabad; Nisha Banu from Madras to Kerala; Dinesh Mehta from Rajasthan to Delhi; Avneesh Jhingan also from Rajasthan to Delhi; Arun Monga from Delhi to Rajasthan; Sanjay Kumar Singh from Allahabad to Patna; Rohit Ranjan Agarwal also from Allahabad to Calcutta; Sandeep Natvarlal Bhatt from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh; Chandrasekharan Sudha from Kerala to Delhi; Tara Vitasta Ganju Delhi to Karnataka; Subhendu Samanta from Calcutta to Andhra Pradesh.

Justices Manavendranath Roy and Donadi Ramesh, currently serving in Gujarat and Allahabad, have been recommended for repatriation to Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Earlier reshuffle

A similar reshuffle had happened in the High Courts in May, days after Chief Justice Gavai took over as top judge.

On May 26, the Collegium had successfully proposed the elevation of Chief Justices across five High Courts, including that of Justice Pancholi as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court.

It had also recommended the transfer and repatriation of 21 other High Court judges across the country.

The transfers had spanned across the High Courts of Telangana, Karnataka, Madras, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Bombay, Delhi, Rajasthan, Calcutta, Allahabad, Punjab and Haryana, Gauhati, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Patna.