Gujarat, Telangana High Court Bars oppose judges’ transfer by Collegium

NEW DELHI: Lawyers in Gujarat and Telangana were up in arms on Thursday amid buzz that the Supreme Court collegium has decided to transfer Gujarat High Court judge Nikhil S Kariel and his Telangana counterpart A Abhishek Reddy to the Patna High Court for “administrative reasons”. 

Both the Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association (GHCAA) and the Telangana High Court Bar Association resolved to abstain from work indefinitely to protest against the transfer. In its meeting on Wednesday, the collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud is also said to have decided to transfer Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice T Raja to the Rajasthan High Court, again for administrative reasons.

Justice Kariel is one of the finest, honest, upright and unbiased judges whose integrity is being vouched by the entire Bar in unison, the GHCAA said in a resolution. Though the collegium resolution confirming the proposed transfers is yet to be uploaded on the Supreme Court website, a large number of advocates gathered in the court of Gujarat Chief Justice Aravind Kumar in the afternoon at a time when proceedings were being live-streamed.

When the intrigued CJ sought to inquire about the sudden rush of the Bar in court, senior advocate Mihir Thakore said they were against the proposed transfer of Justice Kariel and wished to observe two minutes of silence in mourning. “We are here to mourn the death of independent judiciary,” Thakore added.

Another member of the Bar sought to blame it on Chief Justice Aravind Kumar, saying such transfers are done in consultation with the CJ. Later in the day, the GHCAA resolved to abstain from work indefinitely till the issue is resolved. 

A similar decision was taken by the  Telangana HC Bar Association in its extraordinary meeting on Thursday. The president of the association said the transfer of Justice Reddy is arbitrary and affects the independence of the judiciary.