New Delhi: The Madhya Pradesh High court registry on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that four women civil judges, who were terminated from service due to their alleged unsatisfactory performance, have been reinstated.
The matter was heard by a bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh. A counsel, representing the Madhya Pradesh High Court registry, submitted before the bench that in a full court meeting it was decided that termination of four out of six women judicial officers will be revoked. The judicial officers, whose termination order has been revoked are Jyoti Varkhade, Sonakshi Joshi, Priya Sharma and Rachna Atulkaar Joshi.
Regarding the remaining two women judicial officers, the high court registry contended that their termination has not been revoked and reasons along with other details have been filed in a sealed cover. A lawyer, who represented some of the terminated judicial officers’, said that the reinstated judicial officers will be placed at the bottom of their respective batch and that they will regain their original seniority subject to their confirmation.
In January this year, the apex court had taken a suo motu cognisance of the termination of six women civil judges by the Madhya Pradesh government for their alleged unsatisfactory performance. In the full court meeting of the high court on August 1, this year, it was decided that the four judicial offers’ will be posted as civil judge junior division with a probation of one year without back wages.
The apex court closed the suo moto case, while appreciating the decision of the high court and also the efforts of the lawyers. In June 2023, the state law department passed the termination orders after an administrative committee and a full court meeting found their performance during the probation period unsatisfactory.
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