SC Collegium recommends transfer of 24 HC judges

SC Collegium recommends 24 judges' transfers despite requests; some get different High Courts.

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of 24 judges from High Courts across the country despite requests from several of them to reconsider its decision.

While some judges urged the Collegium to rethink their transfers, others sought a shift to High Courts in neighbouring States. A few gave the apex court body the names of cities they did not mind moving into.

One of the judges wrote to the Collegium about his younger son’s final board examination due in February 2024.

In several cases, the judges gave their consent to their proposed transfer while, in the same breath, asking the Collegium to reconsider its recommendation.

The Collegium has declined to retract any of the 24 proposed transfers. A handful of judges however got a different High Court from the one they were originally recommended to be transferred to.

One of them, Justice C. Sumalatha, a Telangana High Court judge who was proposed to be shifted to Gujarat, made a request to the Collegium to move her to either Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka. The Collegium relented and suggested her for Karnataka.

Similarly, Justice M. Sudheer Kumar, also from Telangana, was chosen for transfer to Calcutta High Court. But the judge urged the Collegium to move him to the Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka or the Madras High Courts. The Collegium has now suggested Madras for him.