New DelhiThePrint has learned that even after more than a year and a half, the Supreme Court collegium is yet to act on its recommendation to transfer two sitting judges of the Rajasthan High Court to another jurisdiction.
Sources in the government as well as the apex court told ThePrint that the collegium – an apex selection-cum-appointment body – while approving the appointment of the two judges for 2021 noted that immediately after their elevation, they would be posted to other higher posts. will be transferred to the court By placing the matter before the Collegium for the purpose.
While a three-member panel headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) nominates candidates for high court appointments, the committee includes two more judges when it comes to recommending transfer of high court judges. is expanded to. Judges are generally transferred in the “interest of justice” and “better administration”.
According to government sources, since the collegium had approved the two names on the condition that they would be transferred upon their appointment, the central government had sent their files back to the appointment panel within a month of their joining the bench . The first file was sent in October 2021, the second in November 2021.
The government had notified the appointment of the two judges in October 2021 on different dates through separate notifications. One of them was the matter of repetition. The name of this special judge was first recommended by the Supreme Court collegium in July 2019, but in February 2020 the government returned the file for reconsideration.
In response to this, the SC Collegium reiterated the name in September 2021. It was during this repeated reiteration, sources said, that the collegium suggested the judge be transferred on elevation. Therefore, in view of this decision of the SC Collegium, the government sent back the file of this judge in October 2021 with a proposal to transfer him out of the Rajasthan HC. So far there has been no response from the government on this.
With regard to the second judge, ThePrint has learned that the government notified his appointment soon after the collegium’s approval. However, in its inputs on the candidate’s background check, the government had raised concerns over his promotion.
Taking into consideration the Government inputs, the Collegium in one of its meeting held in October 2021, while approving the said name, opined that he be transferred to another HC in the administration of justice. Therefore, once the names for elevation were notified by the Government, the latter referred the file regarding transfer of the said Judge to the collegium.
“The file was sent to the apex court collegium on November 17, 2021, nearly a month after the first file. Both the above proposals are pending with it for more than one and a half years and the Collegium is yet to take any decision on them. Since the government referred the proposals, the collegium should decide either way,” said one of the government sources cited above.
Edited by Githalakshmi Ramanathan
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