Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on Monday held talks with delegations of lawyers from Gujarat and Telangana to end the impasse over the Bar’s boycott of the two high courts over the proposed transfer of judges to Patna High Court.
The collegium also released a fresh resolution on another Gujarat High Court transfer. The second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and another senior judge, who is from Gujarat, Justice M.R. Shah, were present at the talks, sources said.
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According to sources, the CJI assured the delegations of lawyers from the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHAA) and the Telangana High Court Advocates Association (THCAA) that the collegium would examine their representations seeking reconsideration of the transfers.
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However, at the same time, the CJI is understood to have firmly conveyed that lawyers cannot obstruct the justice delivery system by abruptly boycotting the courts, which puts thousands of litigants into difficulty.
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CJI Chandrachud is stated to have asked the lawyers to resume their work from Tuesday.
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Although leaders of the two associations expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the talks, held in the CJI’s chambers, they gave no assurance on withdrawing the strike from Tuesday.
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THCAA secretary J. Narender told The Telegraph that the association members who had arrived from Hyderabad on Monday for the talks would take a decision on Tuesday.
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On November 17, the GHCAA and the THCAA had staged massive protests opposing the proposed transfers of Justice Nikhil S. Kariel and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy to Patna High Court and threatened to intensify the agitation if the Supreme Court collegium did not reconsider the decisions.
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The Supreme Court collegium had not uploaded any formal resolution till Monday evening, nor made any official statement denying or admitting the purported proposals for the transfers of the judges.
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However, on Monday evening, the collegium released a resolution stating that it had resolved on September 29 to transfer Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi of Gujarat High Court to Patna High Court.
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“The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on September 29, 2022 has recommended transfer of Mr Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, Judge, Gujarat High Court, to Patna High Court,” a statement uploaded on the official site said.
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The gap between the September 29 recommendation and the November 21 uploading appeared significant.
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Particularly so because on September 29, the collegium was headed by then Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit, who retired on November 9, whereas the present collegium is headed by CJI Chandrachud.
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It is unclear whether the recommendation for the transfer of Justice Pancholi was a decision taken during the previous CJI’s tenure or that of Justice Chandrachud.
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The resolution is silent on the matter.
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However, the transfer of judges from one high court to another is an established practice for administrative and other exigencies. Such protests by the Bar over a judge’s transfer are uncommon.
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However, earlier too the Gujarat Bar had revolted when the second senior-most judge of the high court, Justice Akhil Abdul Kureshi, was in 2018 overlooked for the post of acting chief justice of Gujarat High Court and was instead shifted to Bombay High Court.
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There are unconfirmed reports from legal circles that the collegium had earlier decided on the transfer of three high court judges to two different high courts.
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It is being said that at the first collegium meeting chaired by the new CJI, Justice Chandrachud, on November 16, the collegium had decided to transfer three high court judges for administrative reasons: Madras High Court acting Chief Justice T. Raja to Rajasthan High Court; and the Gujarat High Court judge, Justice Nikhil S. Kariel, and Telangana High Court’s Justice A. Abhishek Reddy to Patna High Court.
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There has been no protest from the Madras High Court Bar Association.
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The three-member collegium for the appointment and transfer of high court judges is made up of Justice Chandrachud and the next two senior-most apex court judges, Justice Kaul and Justice Abdul Nazeer.
Source: The Telegraph India
