After nearly 8 months SC collegium recommendation, Centre clears transfer of three High Court judges

Three judges from separate high courts were on Thursday transferred to the Allahabad, Karnataka and Patna high courts.

New Delhi: The central government has approved the transfer of three high court judges, nearly eight months after recommendations were made by the Supreme Court collegium. The Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a tweet, said that the President has transferred Justice D Ramesh, from the Andhra Pradesh High Court to the Allahabad High Court, Justice Lalitha Kanneganti from the Telangana High Court to the Karnataka High Court and Justice Vipul M Pancholi from the Gujarat High Court to the Patna High Court.

"In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, has transferred these Judges of High Courts," the Notification issued in this regard stated.

The Supreme Court Collegium, in its meeting held on September 29, 2022, recommended the transfer of Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, Judge, Gujarat High Court, to the Patna High Court and justices Ramesh and Kanneganti in November last year.

And in November, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the transfer of several High Court judges to different High Courts in the country.

The Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud recommended the transfer of judges and uploaded the resolution on the website of the top court.

The Collegium, which also comprises Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S Abdul Nazeer, recommended transfer of Justice D Ramesh has been transferred from Andhra Pradesh High Court to Allahabad High Court, while Justice Lalitha Kanneganti has been recommended to be sent from Telangana High Court to Karnataka High Court.

The Gujarat High Court Advocates Association had lodged their protest against Justice Pancholi's transfer out of the Gujarat High Court. On July 12, the Supreme Court collegium resolved to reiterate its recommendations for transferring three judges of different high courts not withstanding their representations for choice posting.

In February this year, the Ministry of Law and Justice, while responding to queries in Parliament,stated that proposals for the transfer of 10 High Court Judges are under various stages of processing. Judges of High Courts are transferred as per the procedure laid down in the Memorandum of Procedure prepared in 1998 pursuant to the Supreme Court, the Ministry said in its reply in Parliament.