The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of 24 judges from High Courts across the country despite requests from several of them to reconsider its decision.
While some judges urged the Collegium to rethink their transfers, others sought a shift to High Courts in neighbouring States. A few gave the apex court body the names of cities they did not mind moving into.
One of the judges wrote to the Collegium about his younger son’s final board examination due in February 2024.
In several cases, the judges gave their consent to their proposed transfer while, in the same breath, asking the Collegium to reconsider its recommendation.
The Collegium has declined to retract any of the 24 proposed transfers. A handful of judges however got a different High Court from the one they were originally recommended to be transferred to.
One of them, Justice C. Sumalatha, a Telangana High Court judge who was proposed to be shifted to Gujarat, made a request to the Collegium to move her to either Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka. The Collegium relented and suggested her for Karnataka.
Similarly, Justice M. Sudheer Kumar, also from Telangana, was chosen for transfer to Calcutta High Court. But the judge urged the Collegium to move him to the Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka or the Madras High Courts. The Collegium has now suggested Madras for him.
Similarly, Justice Narender G, who was picked for transfer from Karnataka to Orissa, urged the Collegium to retain him in Karnataka for three or four months, or in the alternative, shift him to Telangana, Madras or Andhra Pradesh. He has now been proposed for Andhra Pradesh High Court.
But these judges only form a minority. In other cases, despite requests from transferee judges, the Collegium has refused to change its mind.
The Collegium turned down a request by Justice Munnuri Laxman, a Telangana High Court judge whose name was proposed for transfer to Rajasthan, to “either postpone or drop the proposal” or shift him to Karnataka.
Justice Laxaman’s colleague, Justice G. Anupama Chakravarthy, was also denied her request to be shifted to a nearby High Court. She was named for a transfer to Patna.
The Collegium refused to budge when Justice Madhuresh Prasad, who was recommended for transfer from Patna to Calcutta, asked the apex court body to “take into consideration the fact that the final Board exam of his younger son is due in February 2024”.
Likewise, the Collegium rejected a request from Justice Prasad’s fellow Patna High Court judge, Justice Sudhir Singh, to “defer” his intended transfer to Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Three Calcutta High Court judges - Justices Bibek Chaudhuri, Lapita Banerji, Shekhar B. Saraf - were also denied relief by the Collegium. The apex court body refused to reconsider Justice Chaudhuri’s proposed shift to Patna and Justice Banerji’s to Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Justice Saraf, who was suggested for Allahabad High Court, said he was ready to move to Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru or Chandigarh. However, the Collegium stuck to its recommendation to send him to Allahabad.
