The Supreme Court Collegium recommended the transfer of 25 High Court judges for ‘better administration of justice’. This major reshuffle was done at a meeting on Thursday where the head of the Collegium Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and the other four senior-most judges Justice Surya Kant, Justice BR Gavai, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued a resolution proposing the transfer of High Court judges. The High Courts include Punjab & Haryana HC, Gujarat HC, Andhra Pradesh HC, Telangana HC, Patna HC, Allahabad HC, and Bombay HC. Along with this, the SC Collegium also considered the objections from the judges proposed to be transferred. It was observed that the decision to transfer 25 judges is final but changes can be made if a request for not to be transferred or a transfer to a different HC is mentioned.
In a related development on Friday, 04 August, a Bombay HC judge Justice Rohit B Deo resigned from the office. The reason for his resignation was cited as ‘personal reasons’. He said that “I have quit due to personal reasons. I have sent my resignation to the President of India.” In this context, fellow Lawyers said that Justice Deo told them, “Those who are present in the court, I apologize to each one of you. I scolded you because I wanted you to improve. I do not want to hurt any of you because you all are like a family to me and I am sorry to tell you that I have submitted my resignation. You people work hard.”