Supreme Court Collegium Recommends Transfer of 17 High Court Judges

Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday, 21 September, recommended the transfer of seventeen judges across High Courts in India, the decision for which was taken at a Collegium meeting held on 16 September.

The Judges proposed for transfer are:

1. Justice Sabina – from Rajasthan High Court to Himachal Pradesh High Court

2. Justice AM Badar – from Kerala High Court to Patna High Court

3. Justice Vivek Agarwal – from Allahabad High Court to Madhya Pradesh High Court

4. Justice Ravi Nath Tilhari – from Allahabad High Court to Andhra Pradesh High Court

5. Justice Chandra Dhari Singh – from Allahabad High Court to Delhi High Court

6. Justice Anoop Chitkara – from Himachal Pradesh High Court to Punjab and Haryana High Court

7. Justice Yashwant Varma – from Allahabad High Court to Delhi High Court

8. Justice TS Sivagnanam – from Madras High Court to Calcutta High Court

9. Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava – from Chattisgarh High Court to Rajasthan High Court

10. Justice Arindam Sinha – from Calcutta High Court to Orissa High Court

11. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan – from Bombay High Court to Telangana High Court

12. Justice Jaswant Singh – from Punjab and Haryana High Court to Orissa High Court

13. Justice MSS Ramachandra Rao – from Telangana High Court to Punjab and Haryana High Court

14. Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah – from Patna High Court to Andhra Pradesh High Court

15. Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra – from Orissa High Court to Uttarakhand High Court

16. Justice Soumen Sen – from Calcutta High Court to Orissa High Court

17. Justice Paresh R Upadhyay – from Gujarat High Court to Madras High Court

The Supreme Court Collegium also recommended new Chief Justices for 13 high courts across the country.

While five of those are Chief Justices who will be transferred from other high courts, eight are puisne judges who will be elevated as Chief Justices, Bar and Bench reported.

Chief Justices recommended for transfer to other HCs:

1. Justice Akil Kureshi, from Tripura to Rajasthan HC

2. Justice Indrajit Mahanty, from Rajasthan to Tripura HC

3. Justice Mohammad Rafiq, from Madhya Pradesh to Himachal Pradesh HC

4. Justice Arup Kumar Goswami, from Andhra Pradesh to Chhattisgarh HC

5. Justice Biswanath Somadder, from Meghalaya to Sikkim HC

The eight puisine judges recommended for appointment to various High Courts as Chief Justices:

1. Justice Rajesh Bindal, Allahabad High Court

2. Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Calcutta High Court

3. Justice PK Mishra, Andhra Pradesh High Court

4. Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Karnataka High Court

5. Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Telangana High Court

6. Justice Aravind Kumar, Gujarat High Court

7. Justice RV Malimath, Madhya Pradesh High Court

8. Justice Ranjit V More, Meghalaya High Court

The recommendations come just a month after the Collegium had recommended nine judges, including three women judges, for appointment to the Supreme Court.

The recommendations were cleared by the central government within a week, taking the working strength of the Supreme Court from 24 to 33, just one short of its sanctioned strength of 34.

Moreover, between 8 August and 1 September, the apex court collegium had processed over 100 names recommended by various high courts and had finally sent 68 names to the government for appointment as judges to 12 high courts.

As per sources, however, the government is yet to take a call on the recommendations, on appointing a total of 68 judicial officers and advocates as judges of various high courts, Indian Express reported.

(With inputs from Bar & Bench and The Indian Express)