SC Collegium Recommends Transfer of Seven HC Judges; Justice Kariel Not Among Them
SC Collegium Recommends Transfer of Seven HC Judges; Justice Kariel Not Among Them
Media reports on Justice Kariel's proposed transfer to Patna high court had triggered protests by lawyers in the Gujarat high court and later, a delegation of Bar leaders had even met CJI Chandrachud.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on Thursday recommended the transfer of seven high court judges to different high courts in the country. The list of high court judges, who have been recommended for transfer, does not include Justice Nikhil S. Kariel of the Gujarat high court. Media reports on Justice Kariel’s proposed transfer to Patna high court had triggered protests by lawyers in the Gujarat high court and later a delegation of Bar leaders had met the CJI who was claimed to have assured them that the matter will be looked into. The resolutions of the Collegium, which also comprises Justices S.K. Kaul and S.A. Nazeer, were uploaded on the apex court’s website. The seven judges to be transferred included Justice V.M. Velumani, a judge in the Madras high court who will be joining the Calcutta high court; Justice Battu Devanand, who has been sent from the Andhra Pradesh high court to the Madras high court; Justice D. Ramesh, transferred from the Andhra Pradesh high court to the Allahabad high court; Justice Lalitha Kanneganti from the Telangana high court to the Karnataka high court; Justice D. Nagarjun from the Telangana high court to the Madras high court; Justice T. Raja from the Madras high court to the Rajasthan high court; and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy from the Telangana high court to the Patna high court. Lawyers at the Telangana high court had also protested the proposed transfer of Justice Reddy and later, a delegation of Bar leaders had met the CJI. The Collegium, in another meeting held on November 23, also approved the proposal for the elevation of two advocates – Anil Kumar Upman and Nupur Bhat – as judges in the Rajasthan high court. The three-member Collegium, which takes decisions with regard to high court judges, also approved the proposal for elevation of six judicial officers – Rajendra Prakash Soni, Ashok Kumar Jain, Yogendra Kumar Purohit, Bhuwan Goyal, Praveer Bhatnagar, and Ashutosh Kumar – as Judges in the Rajasthan high court. In another decision, the Collegium also approved the proposal for appointment of two additional judges – Justices Narendra Kumar Vyas and Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi – as permanent judges in the Chhattisgarh high court. (PTI)