SC collegium recommends transfer of Andhra Pradesh Hight Court CJ

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of Andhra Pradesh HC Chief Justice J K Maheshwari to Sikkim High Court, months after a letter by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde seeking his intervention to restore neutrality of the High Court.

Notably, the Sikkim High Court has a sanctioned strength of three judges, and the Andhra Pradesh High Court of 37 judges.

Sikkim High Court Chief Justice A K Goswami will replace Justice Maheshwari in AP HC.

On October 6, Reddy, in an unprecedented move, wrote a letter to the CJI, alleging that the Andhra Pradesh High Court was being used as an instrument to destabilise and topple the democratically elected government.

He asked the Chief Justice to consider taking appropriate steps to ensure that the state judiciary's neutrality was maintained.

In other recommendations, the Collegium has also recommended the elevation of Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice S Muralidhar as Chief Justice of Orissa High Court and Delhi High Court judge Justice Hima Kohli as Chief Justice of Telangana High Court.

Justice Sanjib Banerjee was appointed as Chief Justice Madras High Court, Justice Pankaj Mithal of Allahabad High Court as Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court; and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia as Chief Justice Gauhati High Court.

In other recommendations, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court Justice R S Chauhan has been transferred as Chief Justice Uttarakhand High Court; Chief Justice Mohammed Rafiq transferred as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. Justice Sanjay Yadav of MP HC has been transferred to Allahabad High Court; Justice Rajesh Bindal of J&K HC transferred to Calcutta High Court; Justice Vineet Kothari transferred from Madras HC to Gujarat HC, Justice Joymala Bagchi from Calcutta HC to Andhra Pradesh HC and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma from Madhya Pradesh High Court to Karnataka High Court.