Two seniormost Punjab & Haryana High Court judges cleared for transfer

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 18

Two seniormost judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court are among the 28 judges recommended to be transferred by the Supreme Court (SC) after its collegium meeting. Once the transfers come into force, the High Court Collegium comprising the Chief Justice and two senior judges will be reconstituted.

Available information suggests the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of Justice Rajan Gupta to the Patna High Court. He is likely to take over as Chief Justice. Justice Jaswant Singh has been shifted to Odisha. This is in addition to Justice Sudip Ahluwalia’s transfer to Calcutta. Another recommendation is to transfer senior Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Justice Sabina to the Himachal Pradesh High Court. She is currently a judge in the Rajasthan High Court after being transferred from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

As a result of the transfers, Justice Ajay Tewari and Justice Augustine George Masih will replace Justice Jaswant Singh and Justice Rajan Gupta in the High Court Collegium. The last time the collegium recommended names of advocates for elevation as HC judges was more than a year ago. The names of judicial officers, on the other hand, were recommended for elevation as High Court judges more than two years ago.

Justice Gupta likely to be Patna CJ

• The SC Collegium has recommended the transfer of Justice Rajan Gupta to Patna and Justice Jaswant Singh to Odisha
• Justice Rajan Gupta is likely to take over as Chief Justice
• Justice Ajay Tewari and Justice Augustine George Masih to be in the HC Collegium

Case pendency reaches 4.5 lakh

• The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in the absence of appointments, is facing a pendency of 4.5 lakh cases
• It has 45 judges against the sanctioned strength of 85
• Seven judges have already retired this year and another five will make an exit next year

The process of appointing judges is lengthy and time-consuming. Once cleared by the states and the Governors, the file containing the names with Intelligence Bureau reports is placed before the Supreme Court when it meets. The names cleared for elevation are then sent to the Union Law Ministry before their warrants of appointment are signed by the President. The process can take several months if not taken up on a priority basis. The SC Collegium has already cleared four of the five names sent by the HC Collegium from the advocates’ category. The names were finalised and forwarded by the High Court Collegium in August last year. These were further forwarded to the SC in April this year.

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