These Are Reversible — Supreme Court On Gujarat HC Staying Promotions Of Judicial Officers

The matter concerning the promotion of judicial officers in Gujarat was reassigned to another bench by the Supreme Court on 16 May, in light of the retirement of Justice M R Shah.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora brought the matter before Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala, notifying the court that the Gujarat High Court had issued an order on 15 May, reversing the promotion of 40 judges.

Justice Pardiwala stated that 28 judges remain on the list for promotion based on merit, while the promotions of the remaining 40 judges have been revoked.

However, CJI Chandrachud stressed that these decisions are subject to change and assured the affected judges that they would receive their retirement benefits.

Arora then highlighted the significant humiliation faced by the affected judges. In response, CJI Chandrachud expressed his intention to reassign the matter after the court vacation.

This stay order was issued in response to a petition filed by aspiring district judges challenging the decisions of the Gujarat government and the Gujarat High Court to make appointments based on seniority-cum-merit.

The petitioners argued that appointments should be made based on the existing principle of merit-cum-seniority, where merit takes precedence over seniority.

Following these developments, the Gujarat High Court issued two notifications on Monday, reversing the promotions and transfers of 40 judicial officers.

For those who were promoted, their postings were changed while their promotions remained intact.

Notably, among those impacted by the stay order of the SC is Harish Hasmukh Bhai Varma. He was the judge who passed the order convicting Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case. The conviction led to Rahul Gandhi being disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha.