Seven former judges write to CJI against transfers

Saurabh Malik

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 4

The storm of discontent, brewing over the move to transfer three Punjab and Haryana High Court Judges without making apparent the reason for their relocation, has gained momentum.

No less than seven former Judges of the Supreme Court and former Chief Justices of different High Courts have written to the Chief Justice of India to say that the perplexing transfers have left the legal fraternity wondering. They, too, have not been able to take the transfers “out of the pale of arbitrariness”.

The development is significant as this is probably the first time that seven former Supreme Court and High Court Judges of high stature and great esteem have collectively taken up the issue of transparency in the transfer of judges from one court to another.

In the letter to the Chief Justice of India, they have also asserted that such transfers, which appear on the face of it to be arbitrary and wholly unjustified, were acting as a deterrent; and that deserving and desirable advocates were not opting for appointment as judges.

The letter has been penned down by Supreme Court’s former Judge, Justice Kuldeep Singh; Supreme Court’s former Judge, Justice HS Bedi; Allahabad High Court’s former Chief Justice SS Sodhi; Sikkim High Court’s former Chief Justice MS Gujral; former Chief Justice of the Andhra High Court, Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan; former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice RN Aggarwal; and former Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Mehtab Singh Gill.

The letter has been written just about a week after the surfacing of the decision to transfer Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Jaishree Thakur to the Rajasthan High Court and Justice BS Walia to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

They were elevated along with nine other Judges in September. None of the transferred Judges have kith and kin practicing in the high court. The reason for their relocation has not been made apparent to the lawyers, leading to the demand for a more transparent transfer policy.

The two-page letter written by the former Judges says: “We have come to know from press reports that out of the 12 newly appointed Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, three are proposed to be transferred which is just within a few days of their taking oath. This news has left the legal fraternity wondering as to how and why these three Judges have been picked up for transfer.

“Needless to say that the distinguishing feature of the judiciary from other organs of the state is that its actions must be transparent, fair and supported directly or indirectly by reasons. We respectfully say that despite our full scrutiny and application of mind, we have not been able to take these transfers out of the pale of arbitrariness.

“These three Judges have been picked up out of the 12 appointed altogether. None of the relations of these Judges is in the profession in this high court. No one has observed their judicial acumen as yet because they have worked only for a few days. Their integrity and honesty is apparently above board and there is no apparent reason to doubt it. We, therefore, fail to understand as to why and on what basis they are being transferred.

“We are aware that deserving and desirable advocates are not opting to be appointed as judges and one of the main reasons that deters them are the transfers like this which appear on the face of it to be arbitrary and wholly unjustified. It is no doubt that transfer of high court judges from one court to another is a prerogative of the Supreme Court. We have no doubt that such transfers are always done for good reasons, but in this case, we are unable to find any justifiable reason despite our best efforts.

“We look upon such transfers as a matter of concern for the judiciary and this is the reason that has impelled us to address this communication to you. We have taken the liberty of sending a copy of this communication to all the members of the Collegium”.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association too has sought reconsideration of the transfers. It has, in fact, passed a resolution saying that there was no administrative or other reason for their transfer.