Collegium recommends transfer of 7 High Court judges, Justice Kariel is not among them

Earlier, lawyers had boycotted work in Gujarat and Telangana High Courts opposing reported move to transfer judges

The Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud published on Thursday its resolution recommending the transfer of seven High Court judges. The name of Gujarat High Court judge, Justice Nikhil S. Kariel, is not among them.

Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice T. Raja and Telangana High Court judge, Justice A. Abhishek Reddy, however figure in the list.

The Collegium resolution shows the decision to propose the transfer of the seven judges was taken at its meeting on November 24.

Social media reports and news articles had over the past few days reported that the Collegium met on November 16 to recommend the transfers of Justices Kariel, Reddy and Raja. It was reported that Justice Kariel, like Justice Reddy, was proposed by the Collegium to be transferred to the Patna High Court.

The reports had triggered protests in the Gujarat High Court Bar against the transfer of Justice Kariel, whom the lawyers described as a “fine, honest judge”. Lawyers had boycotted work in the Gujarat High Court and the agitation had spread to Telangana, where lawyers had objected to the reported transfer of Justice Reddy. They too had declared strike. The Madras High Court lawyers had also expressed their displeasure over the transfer of Justice Raja.

The train of events took a serious turn and Chief Justice Chandrachud had called for “harmony and balance” during the weekend. Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had cautioned protesting lawyers from making their demands “too loud” and voiced apprehensions about a future scenario when lawyers would start protesting every decision of the Collegium.

Chief Justice Chandrachud and two other Collegium judges had met delegations of lawyers from the Gujarat and Telangana High Courts Advocates Association in the Supreme Court on Monday. The CJI, according to both delegations, had agreed to examine the lawyers’ grievances about the two transfers and urged them to call off the protests. While the Gujarat High Court delegation had remained skeptical, the Telangana team agreed to call off the strike after the CJI’s assurances.