Supreme Court Collegium Recommends Transfer Of Three Calcutta High Court Judges

The Supreme Court Collegium, in its meeting held on 3 August 2023, has recommended the transfer of 3 Calcutta High Court judges. The Collegium, consisting of Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice B R Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, has recommended the names of the following 3 judges of the Calcutta High Court: Justice Shekhar B. Saraf (Proposed to be transferred to Allahabad High Court) By a letter dated 7 August 2023, Justice Shekhar B Saraf accepted the proposal for his transfer, however, he requested a reconsideration of the proposed transfer and in the alternative, requested to consider transferring him to any of the places i.e. Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chandigarh. However, the Collegium did not find any merit in the requests made by him and therefore, it resolved to reiterate its recommendation to transfer him to the Allahabad High Court.Notably, Justice Shekhar B Saraf had recently delivered a scathing judgement against Indian Railways officials due to their ‘fraudulent’ conduct in arbitration proceedings, as well as another judgement against the lack of accountability between Government officials. Justice Lapita Banerji (Proposed to be transferred to Punjab and Haryana High Court) By a letter dated 8 August 2023, Justice Lapita Banerji conveyed her willingness to be transferred to the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. She has also requested for reconsideration of the proposal for her transfer. The Collegium considered the request made by her and did not find any merit in the request made by her, and therefore, the Collegium resolved to reiterate its recommendation to transfer her to the High Court of Punjab and Haryana Justice Bibek Chaudhuri (Proposed to be transferred to Patna High Court) By a letter dated 9 August 2023, Justice Bibek Chaudhuri requested for a reconsideration of the proposal for his transfer to the Patna High Court. The collegium considered the request made, however, it di not find any merit in the request made by him. Therefore, Collegium resolved to reiterate its recommendation to transfer him to the High Court of Judicature at Patna. Significantly, the Collegium has also proposed to transfer the following 2 judges to the Calcutta High CourtJustice Madhuresh Prasad (from Patna High Court)Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani (from Allahabad High Court)As per Collegium's statement, all the transfers have been recommended for "better administration of justice".Click Here To Read/Download Collegium's Statement

Supreme Court Collegium Recommends Transfer Of Three Calcutta High Court Judges

Srinjoy Das

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