MP judge seeks transfer saying daughter to soon start practising there, SC Collegium accepts

It said that the judge “has stated that he does not desire to continue in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh when his daughter enters practice” and added that accordingly, “the Collegium has resolved to accept the request of Mr Justice Atul Sreedharan and to recommend that he be transferred, in the interest of better administration of justice, to the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh”.

The Collegium also comprising Justices S K Kaul, K M Joseph, M R Shah and Ajay Rastogi, meanwhile, rejected the request of Madras High Court judge Justice V M Velumani, who was recommended to be transferred to Calcutta High Court, to be sent to a high court in any of the north-eastern states so that she would then be able to retain her official accommodation in Chennai.

The Collegium, by its September 29, 2022 resolution, had proposed to transfer Justice Velumani, who was appointed judge of the Madras High Court on December 20, 2013, to Calcutta High Court “for the better administration of justice”.

“Justice Velumani sought reconsideration of the recommendation by her letter dated 14 October 2022. Her request was not acceded to by the Collegium. The Collegium by a resolution dated November 24, 2022, reiterated the recommendation for her transfer”. By letter dated March 17, 2023, she again sought a transfer “to a HC of the North-eastern States, preferably Manipur or Tripura, on the ground that she would then be able to retain her official accommodation at Chennai”.

Turning this down, the Collegium said “the request made by Ms Justice V M Velumani to retain her at the Madras High Court has been rejected by the Collegium on an earlier occasion. There is no valid reason to reconsider the earlier decision of the Collegium by which her transfer has been recommended to the Calcutta High Court or to accede to her fresh request. Her request for transfer to either Manipur or Tripura or any High Court in the North-eastern States is rejected”.

The Collegium also rejected a request by Patna High Court judge Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma to be transferred back to his parent high court, Rajasthan, but agreed to move him to Punjab and Haryana High Court as he had cited health reasons for making the request.

Justice Sharma was appointed as a judge of the Rajasthan High Court on November 16, 2016, and was transferred to Patna on January 1, 2022 “for better administration of justice”. “He has sought repatriation to the Rajasthan High Court on the ground, inter alia, of his poor health and unavailability of adequate medical facilities at Patna. He has informally requested that if his repatriation to the Rajasthan High Court is not possible, he would seek a transfer to the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in view of the nature of the medical facilities available at Chandigarh to facilitate treatment of his condition. The Collegium resolves that it is not possible to repatriate Mr Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma to his parent High Court. Bearing in mind the health reasons which have led the Judge to seek a transfer out of the High Court where he is posted at present, the Collegium resolves that Shri Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma be transferred, to the High Court of Punjab and Haryana”, the March 28 resolution added.