Justice Nikhil Kariel Transfer Row | Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association Calls Off Strike, To Resume Work From Tomorrow

The Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association (GHCAA) has decided to call off its strike which started on Thursday to oppose the proposed transfer of Justice Nikhil S. Kariel from the Gujarat High Court to the Patna High Court. The advocates are set to resume work tomorrow. The decision to call off the strike comes a day after the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud gave an assurance to the GHCAA that their objections would be examined. CJI Chandrachud had also asked the advocates to resume work.In a meeting of the Association that took place today at 10:30, the Senior Members of the Delegation who had met the Chief Justice of India apprised the Bar about the meeting and stated the following:-"We place on record our appreciation for the cordial audience given by the Chief Justice of India and the other two members of the Collegium. We must inform the August Bar that the Chief Justice of India underlined to us the fact that the issue of the transfer of Justice Kariel would be thoroughly examined, with inputs from all sources, including the representation made by the GHAA."In the meeting chaired by the President in charge, Prithviraj Jadeja, it was stated that the GHCAA is committed to the issues raised by it and since a solution within the constitutional framework is desirable, therefore the present strike is suspended.Significantly, in the meeting, it was further resolved that an appropriate resolution would be passed condemning the transfer order of Justice Vipul Pancholi and for that, a meeting shall be convened on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. in the Bar Room.It may be noted that the GHCAA has been staging protests against Justice Kariel's proposed transfer. On 17 November, the Association decided to abstain from appearing before the Benches. Passing a resolution to this effect, the Association called Justice Nikhil S. Kariel the 'finest, upright, honest and unbiased' judge and resolved to show its displeasure in this regard.Stating that the proposed transfer is not in the right taste, the resolution of the association stated that it had been unanimously decided by the members of the Bar to strongly oppose any such steps and that they shall protest indefinitely till the issue is resolved by the Chief Justice of India and the Collegium.The decision to pass this resolution was taken by the Association in an urgent meeting convened hours after the members of the bar gathered today in the court of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar to protest against the proposed SC Collegium decision.When CJ Aravind Kumar asked the lawyers about the purpose of their presence in large numbers before the Court, Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore said that they were against the proposed transfer of Justice Kariel to Patna High Court and that they wished to observe two minutes of silence."We are here to mourn the death of independent judiciary," Senior Advocate Thakore said.

Justice Nikhil Kariel Transfer Row | Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association Calls Off Strike, To Resume Work From Tomorrow

Sparsh Upadhyay

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