Justice Ujjal Bhuyan rings the warning bells on judicial independence

RECENTLY, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, judge at the Supreme Court of India, spoke about the executive’s interference in the transfer of High Court judges. Although Justice Bhuyan did not specify which transfer he was referring to, his reference to a Collegium decision – where reasons for transferring a particular judge to a particular High Court at ‘government’s request’ was made public – makes one infer he was referring to the transfer of Justice Atul Sreedharan. Justice Sreedharan was transferred from the Madhya Pradesh High Court to the Allahabad High Court, instead of the Chhattisgarh High Court which the Collegium had initially recommended.

It was heartening to note that Justice Bhuyan expressed his concerns about the manner in which the transfer took place, despite being part of the system. Generally, what we see is that judges experience an epiphany after they retire and then begin to comment on the state of affairs across various issues.

Justice Bhuyan’s concern is not ill-founded. The collegium system, established by the Court itself through judicial creativity, was intended to insulate the judiciary from executive interference in the appointment and transfer of judges, thereby securing judicial independence.