The Law Ministry on Thursday notified the elevation of four judges as Chief Justices of Madras, Orissa, Telangana and Jammu & Kashmir High Courts (HCs) and effected the transfer is 10 other judges including four Chief Justices.
The Supreme Court Collegium, earlier this month, had recommended the transfer of four Chief Justices of High Courts and elevation of some judges as Chief Justices.
In a swap, Chief Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari of the Andhra Pradesh High Court (HC) was transferred to Sikkim HC while Chief Justice Arup Kumar Singh of Sikkim HC will now be the new CJ of Andhra Pradesh HC.
The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended transfer of Justice Maheshwari to the Sikkim High Court, weeks after Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had complained to the Chief Justice of India about the State's top judiciary.
Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan of the Telangana High Court has been transferred as the new CJ of the Uttarakhand High Court. The current CJ of Orissa HC, Justice Mohammad Rafiq, will be the new chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Justice Sanjib Banerjee, currently a judge of the Calcutta HC, has now been elevated as the new Chief Justice of Madras High Court.
While Justice Dr S. Muralidhar of Punjab and Haryana High Court was elevated as the Chief Justice (CJ) of Orissa HC, Delhi HC judge Hima Kohli has been made the CJ of Telangana HC.
Another notification said Justice Satish Chandra Sharma from the Madhya Pradesh HC has been transferred to the Karnataka HC; Justice Joymalya Bagchi from the Calcutta HC to Andhra Pradesh HC; Justice Rajesh Bindal from J&K HC to Calcutta HC; Justice Sanjay Yadav of MP to Allahabad HC; Justice Vineet Kothari from Madras to Gujarat HC and Justice Ravi R Malimath has been sent to the HP High Court from the Uttarakhand HC.