Days after the collegium recommended Justice B.R. Sarangi as the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court, the senior-most judge of the Jharkhand High Court Justice Shree Chandrashekhar has sought to be transferred.
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TWO days after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended the appointment of Orissa High Court’s Justice B.R. Sarangi as the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court, the senior-most judge of the Jharkhand High Court Justice Shree Chandrashekhar requested to be transferred out of the high court.
In a meeting held on December 29, the five-judge collegium comprising the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B.R. Gavai, Surya Kant and Anirudda Bose acceded to the request of Justice Chandrashekhar and decided to transfer him to the Rajasthan High Court.
Justice Chandrashekhar was appointed as acting chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court today after the incumbent chief justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra demitted office. Justice Chandrashekhar sought his transfer on the same day.
The collegium resolution does not spell out the reason given by Justice Chandrashekhar for his transfer. The collegium has been inconsistent in disclosing the reasons either for the appointment of judges or their transfers.
For instance, earlier this year, Justice Atul Sreedharan sought his transfer from the Madhya Pradesh High Court because he did not desire to continue in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh when his daughter entered practice. The collegium resolution mentioned this as a reason.
The collegium had accepted the request of Justice Atul Sreedharan and recommended that he be transferred, in the interest of better administration of justice, to the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
However, in the case of Justice Chandrashekhar, the resolution is completely silent on the reason given by him for his request to be transferred.
Justice Sarangi was appointed as judge of the Orissa High Court on June 20, 2013, while Justice Chandrashekhar was appointed as judge of the Jharkhand High Court on January 17, 2013. It can be seen that Justice Chandrashekhar is senior to Justice Sarangi.
The Supreme Court Collegium, while recommending the name of Justice Sarangi for appointment as chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court, noted that after the retirement of Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, there would be no representation of the High Court of Orissa among the chief justices of the high courts.
