Supreme Court questions Centre over delay in judges' transfer
Nov 20, 2023
New Delhi [India], November 20 : The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Centre over the transfer of judges from one court to another observing that the government has kept recommendations pending regarding the transfer of few judges.
A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia noted that out of the remaining 11 names where judges had to be shifted from one high court to the other, 5 have been transferred. The court noted that six names of judges are still pending of which four are from Gujarat and one each from Delhi and Allahabad.
The court said that such selective transfers of judges do not send a good signal.
The court also questioned the Centre over delaying clearing the recommended names of advocates Harmeet Singh Grewal and Deepinder Singh Nalwa to be appointed as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The court noted that in recently recommended names, eight candidates have not been cleared and appointed. Some of these people are senior to others who have been appointed.
However, the court adjourned the matter for December 5 at the request of the attorney general.
The court time to time had expressed its concern on the Centre's approach in clearing the name for judicial appointment as it noted that recent appointment was done selectively.
Earlier the Supreme Court had expressed its concern on the issue of keeping the list of the transfers of judges of the high courts pending with the Centre.
The court was dealing with the petition against the Centre for keeping the Collegium-recommended names of judges for their appointment in the various High courts and Supreme Court pending.
One of the petitions was filed by the Advocates Association of Bengaluru seeking to initiate contempt action against the Union Ministry of Law and Justice for not following the timeline for clearing judicial appointments recommended by the collegium.
Along with the Advocates Association of Bengaluru, the court was also dealing with
NGO Common Cause petition raising the issue of delay in judicial appointments.
