In order to improve the administration of justice, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended that Justice H.M. Prachchhak was transferred from Gujarat High Court to Patna High Court.
Purnesh Modi, a Gujarat BJP politician, filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against Congressman Rahul Gandhi for his comments about the “Modi surname” at a political rally in 2019. Supreme Court justice Prachchhak refused Modi’s request to stay his conviction for two and a half years. A seven judge Supreme Court panel, chaired by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, who had been a member of the NCB Collegium at that time, stayed the judgment.
On August 3, a resolution drawn up by the Supreme Court Collegium which was published late that evening recommended judicial transfers to Judge Prachchhak and nine other High Court Judges. Justices A.Y. Kogje, K. Gita Gopi, and Samir J. Dave were the three judges from the Gujarat High Court who were recommended for transfer in the same batch to Allahabad, Madras, and Rajasthan, respectively.
Justices A.S. Sangwan, Avneesh Jhingan, R.M. Singh, and Arun Monga, all of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, have been recommended for transfer to Allahabad, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, respectively, by the Collegium. Justice V.K. Singh of the Allahabad High Court has also been recommended for transfer to Madras.
The Supreme Court Collegium also recommended that Justice Duppala Venkata Ramana, a judge at the High Courts of Andhra Pradesh be transferred to MadhyaPradesh’s superior court. He had his request for a transfer to the High Court of Karnataka rejected by the Collegium. It has also proposed that the judge of the Allahabad High Court, Rajendra Kumar IV, be transferred to Madhya Pradesh. His request to suspend his transfer for six months has been rejected by the Collegium.
The Collegium was of the view that S. P. Kesarwani should be transferred from Allahabad High Court to Calcutta, although it decided not to reconsider its decision. The Ministry suggested that Justice C. Mandavendranath Roy be transferred to Gujarat from Andhra Pradesh High Court. He was denied his request to be transferred to Telangana.
It was recommended for transfer to Jharkhand, that Justice Prasant Padia of the Allahabad High Court be transferred. He was denied transfer to the states of Madhya Pradesh, Patna or Uttarakhand. All the transfers, like that of Justice Prachchhak, were made for the “better administration of justice”.
