The Gujarat High Court judge, who refused to pause Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in the criminal defamation case over his ‘Modi surname’ remark, is among the 9 judges recommended for transfer by the Supreme Court Collegium.
The Collegium, in its August 3 meeting, has recommended the transfer of four Gujarat High Court judges, which also includes the judge who recused himself from hearing activist Teesta Setalvad’s bail plea.
Noting that the recommendations for transfer are being made for “better administration of justice”, the Gujarat HC judges recommended for transfer are Justice A Y Kogje to Allahabad High Court, Justice Gita Gopi to Madras High Court, Justice Hemant Prachchhak to Patna High Court and Justice Samir Dave to Rajasthan High Court.
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Justice Hemant Prachchhak refused to stay Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case. Meanwhile, Justice Samir Dave had recently courted controversy for his “Manusmriti” reference while hearing a minor rape survivor’s plea for permission to terminate her pregnancy.
“Ask your mother or great-grandmother. Fourteen-fifteen was the maximum age (for marriage), and girls used to give birth to their first child before turning 17. And girls get mature before boys…Though you may not read, you should still read Manusmriti once,” Justice Dave had said in oral observations.
Of the four Gujarat HC judges, Justice Gopi is the only judge who directly joined the judiciary at the cadre of the district judge, while the remaining three were practising lawyers before being elevated as High Court judges, The Indian Express reported.
Also Read: Big relief for Rahul Gandhi as Supreme Court stays conviction in defamation case
Apart from this, four judges from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and one from the Allahabad High Court, also feature in the list of nine names from the collegium resolution of August 3, according to a document put up on the Supreme Court website last night.