SC Collegium recommends transfer of seven High Court judges; Justice Nikhil S Kariel not on list

Significantly, the Collegium has not recommended the transfer of Justice Nikhil Kariel, Judge of the Gujarat High Court, following the representation from the Gujarat Bar that protested against the proposed transfer.

The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud Thursday recommended the transfer of seven judges of High Courts.

From the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Justices Battu Devanand and D Ramesh have been recommended for a transfer to the Madras and Allahabad High Courts, respectively.

Justice Lalitha Kanneganti, currently judge of the Telangana High Court, has been recommended for a transfer to the Karnataka High Court. Justice Kanneganti was transferred from her parent high court Andhra Pradesh to Telangana High Court only in November last year, after being appointed in May 2020.

Justices D Nagarjun and Abhishek Reddy from the Telangana High Court have also been recommended for a transfer to Madras and Patna High Courts, respectively.

From the Madras High Court, the collegium recommended the transfer of Justices V.M. Velumani and T Raja to Calcutta and Rajasthan High Courts, respectively. The transfer of Justice Raja, who is currently the senior most judge of the Madras High Court and its acting Chief Justice, will also require the government to appoint either a new acting Chief Justice or Chief Justice.

The Collegium’s recommendation on September 28 to transfer Justice S Muralidhar, Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court is pending with the government.

Significantly, the Collegium has not recommended the transfer of Justice Nikhil Kariel, Judge of the Gujarat High Court, following the representation from the Gujarat Bar that protested against the proposed transfer.

It is learnt that the Collegium was mulling the transfer of Justice Kariel to the Patna High Court and had written to Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court for his opinion. However, the Gujarat High Court Advocates Bar Association went on a strike and made a representation to members of the SC Collegium. On November 21, the group of lawyers met CJI Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MR Shah before calling off their strike.

Courtesy: Indian Express