Mass transfer of High Court Judges: CJI cracks down in public interest

Bar & Bench News Network

Sep 13, 2010

CJI S H Kapadia (pictured) who also heads the Supreme Court collegium has initiated a process to transfer 20 judges from various High Courts across the country in public interest, reports Hindustan Times and Times of India. The development has been seen as an important move to tackle the growing perception of various kinds of irregularities in the judiciary.

HT also reports that this mass transfer is the largest transfer of high court judges in one go since 1993, when 50 judges were transferred during the tenure of then CJI M N Venkatachaliah, following complaints against them.

According to HT, the proposed transfers includes three judges each from high courts of Allahabad, Punjab & Haryana and Rajasthan, two each from Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and names of some judges from Orissa and Assam High Courts.

In separate news, the President, has appointed a Judge in the Punjab & Haryana High Court and has transferred judges of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and the Guwahati High Court.

Justice Jora Singh has been appointed as a Judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court. He was previously the Additional Judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court. Bar & Bench had reported of Justice Jora Singh’s name being mentioned amongst the list of names of Judges who are Uncles and whose relatives are practicing in the same court. A report had indicated that the Punjab & Haryana High Court has about 16 judges whose relatives practice in the same court and at times, appear before the same Bench.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Judge of the Guwahati High Court will now be a judge at the Punjab & Haryana High Court. Justice Gogoi is expected to eventually take over as the Chief Justice of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, when Justice Mukul Mudgal retires in January 2011. Justice Gogoi is the senior most after Justice Mukul Mudgal.

Justice Arun Kumar Mishra is getting transferred from the Madhya Pradesh High Court to the Rajasthan High Court.

Comments(23)

1. "Hon’ble CJI is doing admirable job". ABC, DELHI
2. "Certainly a great move to restore decorum and faith in the judiciary. Only hope that its get implemented as intended since there is going to be a lot of resistance from different quarters.". Observer, (Unknown City?)
3. "Peoples confidence and faith in the impartiality of the judiciary is the bed rock of the judicial administration system of any country. This laudable move of the CJI will go a long way to restore that faith. Much is required to be done still . Hope this is the beginning of the much needed reforms.". OPT, New Delhi
4. "Judiciary is the only hope of the peopleshould be protected by such moves / steps of the CJI". Govind, Chennai
5. "These transferes will bring good transformation in the Judiciary and it is welcome move by CJI". ABC , Chennai
6. "It is heartening to hear this news of transfer of judges from one High Court to another High Court, after a long time.Many of the ills of our judicial system can be set right by such a regulated practice.There are many problems which the Hon'ble judges do face in case of such transfers such as the language, education of their children and at times the hostility of the local bar.The majority of these problems can be tackled if the appointment of judge is for life, so that a judge has to be fair and firm in judging the issues involved in the dispute before him. A judge has to be a recluse from the date he occupies the coveted seat till his last day on the globe.More stricter norms can be carved out in making such selections which may not be restricted only from the bar or subordinate judiciary, it can be even from the honest and upright members of the laity with or even without any legal qualification.In my considered opinion every judge should be from out side jurisdiction of the court so that the question of uncle judges will rarely occur.The judges from the local bar can hardly be impartial, as majority of the members of the bars are known to them before and the judges are also human beings and not angels.May our judicial system incorporate such novel methods that it becomes a beckoning star on the global horizon.". Prof. P S Sawhney, (Unknown City?)
7. "I heartily welcome the step taken by Hon'ble The CJI, it not only brings transparency in the judiciary but also stop the corruption in the judiciary which practice has been prevailed during last so many years by the kith and kins of most of the present Hon'ble Judges in Different High Courts in India. However this is a good step for the betterment of judiciary but still there is one more most important requirement for the appointment of more number of judges in the High Courts. i hope and wish, the same shall be forwarded to the authorized concerned persons for further action. ". ABC, (Unknown City?)
8. "A welcome Step taken by the Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India by mass transferring the Hon'ble Judges of Different High Courts of India. It will infuse the confidence in the Institution of Judiciary, which is eroding due to the Stubborn-Attitude; unaccountability of their Duties; Differential (Partial) Judicial Maneuverability. A commendable En-devour which at least bring in the mind of the Hon'ble Judges that, they are not Law but means to establish Means to establish RULE OF LAW.". Abcdef,
9. "Now, before implementation of recomendations made by the Hon'ble C.J.I. regarding tranfer of High court judges, the allegations of Sr. Advocate Shanti Bhushan raised in his affidavit filed in the contempt case of his son Prashant Bhushan,Advocate, should be verified in accordance with law, otherwise a wrong message will go in society which may affect the efficiency of the Hon'ble judges are enlisted for transfer. Becasue the transfer of High Courts' judges are more and less based on some complain by few persons for which they have not been given an opportunity to defend. Thus, those who entertain petitions and pass order for non compliance of principle of natural justice, are themself being deprieved from the same. ". P.K. Sinha, Allahabad
10. "Since this commentator is of the considered opinion that the appointment of judges for Upper judiciary should be for life some of my learned friends have questioned the very basis of this hypothesis, saying that if the appointment is for life the corrupt will be free to indulge in more corruption.This argument is fortified after the filing of the recent affidavit of my learned friend Shri Shashi Bhushan, ex-Law minister of India.This is due to the anxiety of the holder of the post that he will have to look to some other means of earning after he is out his office, as judge of of the Supreme/High court.So safe some thing for the rainy days which are imminent.If one is sure to continue the same benefits of pay and perks for the rest of his life, my opinion is, one will not indulge in such shameless activities.If justice is available for a price the rich only will have it and the poor laity will continue to suffer for all times to come, thus making a mockery of our Judicial system.May good sense prevail and the present government bring out suitable amendment either in the constitution incorporating radical changes in the system of appointment of judges or at least bring out some law like the Right to Information Act,2005; which has empowered the citizens to expose corruption, may be at the cost of the the life of the RTI activists."Vande Matram"". Prof. P S Sawhney, Chandigarh
11. "Since this commentator is of the considered opinion that the appointment of judges for Upper judiciary should be for life some of my learned friends have questioned the very basis of this hypothesis, saying that if the appointment is for life the corrupt will be free to indulge in more corruption.This argument is fortified after the filing of the recent affidavit of my learned friend Shri Shanti Bhushan, ex-Law minister of India.This is due to the anxiety of the holder of the post that he will have to look to some other means of earning after he is out his office, as judge of of the Supreme/High court.So safe some thing for the rainy days which are imminent.If one is sure to continue the same benefits of pay and perks for the rest of his life, my opinion is, one will not indulge in such shameless activities.If justice is available for a price the rich only will have it and the poor laity will continue to suffer for all times to come, thus making a mockery of our Judicial system.May good sense prevail and the present government bring out suitable amendment either in the constitution incorporating radical changes in the system of appointment of judges or at least bring out some law like the Right to Information Act,2005; which has empowered the citizens to expose corruption, may be at the cost of the the life of the RTI activists."Vande Matram"". Prof. P S Sawhney, Chandigarh
12. "Recently, A DB judgment of Delhi High court justified dismissal of a conductor for bribe of Rs. 15/-. Sadly who play havoc with judicial system and actually commit contempt of court by misusing their powers and erode faith of people in judicial system get away so cheaply while people who expose the mess in judiciary are being made to face contempt.It also needs to be underlines that SC has not hesitated in usings its powers to enact laws or pass such orders it deems justifiable in public interest such as removing polluting industries in Delhi or declaring registration of marriages compulsory or making guidelines for police while arresting a person.... may be these are too many to count but sadly it does not want to do anything to put its own house in order.e. the judicial system at the higher level or what it does is not enough or effective. ". Ravi Avasthi, Delhi
13. "Since this commentator is of the considered opinion that the appointment of judges for Upper judiciary should be for life some of my learned friends have questioned the very basis of this hypothesis, saying that if the appointment is for life the corrupt will be free to indulge in more corruption.This argument is fortified after the filing of the recent affidavit of my learned friend Shri Shanti Bhushan, ex-Law minister of India.This is due to the anxiety of the holder of the post that he will have to look to some other means of earning after he is out his office, as judge of of the Supreme/High court.So safe some thing for the rainy days which are imminent.If one is sure to continue the same benefits of pay and perks for the rest of his life, my opinion is, one will not indulge in such shameless activities.If justice is available for a price the rich only will have it and the poor laity will continue to suffer for all times to come, thus making a mockery of our Judicial system.May good sense prevail and the present government bring out suitable amendment either in the constitution incorporating radical changes in the system of appointment of judges or at least bring out some law like the Right to Information Act,2005; which has empowered the citizens to expose corruption, may be at the cost of the the life of the RTI activists...."Vande Matram"". Prof. P S Sawhney, Chandigarh
14. "Since this commentator is of the considered opinion that the appointment of judges for Upper judiciary should be for life some of my learned friends have questioned the very basis of this hypothesis, saying that if the appointment is for life the corrupt will be free to indulge in more corruption.This argument is fortified after the filing of the recent affidavit of my learned friend Shri Shashi Bhushan, ex-Law minister of India.This is due to the anxiety of the holder of the post that he will have to look to some other means of earning after he is out his office, as judge of of the Supreme/High court.So safe some thing for the rainy days which are imminent.If one is sure to continue the same benefits of pay and perks for the rest of his life, my opinion is, one will not indulge in such shameless activities.If justice is available for a price the rich only will have it and the poor laity will continue to suffer for all times to come, thus making a mockery of our Judicial system.May good sense prevail and the present government bring out suitable amendment either in the constitution incorporating radical changes in the system of appointment of judges or at least bring out some law like the Right to Information Act,2005; which has empowered the citizens to expose corruption, may be at the cost of the the life of the RTI activists."Vande Matram"". Prof. P S Sawhney, Chandigarh
15. "IF EVERY JUDGE TRANSFERS WITHIN THREE YEARS THEN IT WILL BE MORE TRANSPERASY AND BENEFITIOLY FOR DEMOCRACY.IN RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT JODHPUR MOST OF JUDGES ARE DOING FACE READING JUDGEMENT.NUMBER OF JUDGES ARE HAVING THEIR RELATIVES AND JUNIORS THOSE ARE PRACTICING IN SAME COURT.". VIDHI , (Unknown City?)JAIPUR
16. "It is a welcome move.The CJI should take up the transfer of those judges whose sons are practicing in the same high court.This will be another step to check any possible corruption in the judiciary.The son of A is favoured by B AND the son of B is favoured by A and so on.". Dr. BK Mohapatra, Delhi
17. "A welcome move but why piece meal decision ?Let it be a log stock and barrel and Uncle Judges must go.Have transparency in appointment at initial stage and uncles in appointment. procedure be forbidden. ". Vinendra, Jaipur
18. "Only 20 judges have been transferred when the total number of judges are around 700. Probably it will even be better if the reason of transfers are made more explicit.". Amit , Delhi
19. "This is a great job done by Chief Justice, which is in public interest. Rather we expect more changes in judiciary for their betterment.". Naresh Kumar, Additional Professor, Chandigarh
20. "Justice Kapadia is doing a great job.". Sveta, Delhi
21. "I think this is correct upto some level, before taking cognizance over the complaint CJI should take a report from his agency because some where bar is no happy with him then also they may complaint but when on complaint an honest judge transferred then this will creat a impression in his mind and this will reduce his capability. CJI should think over it a lot before transferring any Judge. After all they are also human being. They worked very hard while performing their duties.". Unknown, Jaipur
22. "(edited) is also a corrupt Judge, affidavit filed by a prominent advocate of Supreme Court. A corrupt person don't justify in the matter of corruption. ". ABC, New Delhi
23. "Refer to corruption in judiciary, can not be denied. recently one of delhi high transfered to MP high court was a corrupt judge, his name was justice sn aggarwal who was manupulator ". Ahjk, Gurgaon

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