Under cloud,Justice Pal will take oath today

Gujarat HC had strongly opposed the transfer,said it had not decided yet on its next move

Justice Mohinder Pal of Punjab and Haryana High Court will take oath as a judge of Gujarat High Court tomorrow morning. His warrants of transfer were received by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday evening.

The Gujarat High Court Bar,which had strongly opposed the transfer,said it had not decided yet on its next move. Bar shall decide the future course of action,whether or not to do something, Bar Association president Yatin Oza said on Thursday.

The Indian Express had reported on December 6 that Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had apprised the Chief Justice of India CJI of illegalities and irregularities in an order delivered by Justice Pal.

Justice Gogoi had told The Indian Express that this order was one of the major reasons behind Justice Pals transfer.

Justice Pal had said that he was not aware of the reason for his transfer.

Justice Pal was given time until January 10 to take up his new assignment in Ahmedabad. He will,however,take oath at 10.30 am tomorrow.

A fortnight ago,over 400 Gujarat lawyers had passed a resolution requesting the CJI to reconsider Justice Pals transfer and,in the mean time,put the move on hold. The resolution pleaded that Gujarat High Court may not be considered as a dumping ground,and that all judges were welcome on any ground other than under compulsion where a needle of suspicion is pointed against that judge on the ground of integrity.

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In Chandigarh,over a thousand lawyers of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had sought an emergent meeting to discuss the grave issues of judicial accountability thrown up by Justice Pals judgment.

This, the requisition passed by the High Court lawyers said,is especially so when even the Chief Justice of the High Court has publicly confirmed that he has,on the asking of the Chief Justice of India,looked into the matter and reported to the CJI about the glaring irregularities committed by the High Court Judge.

In an order passed in just 13 days,Justice Pal had directed Haryana Urban Development Authority HUDA to issue an allotment letter to a private developer,M/s Orchid Infrastructure,accepting its bid of Rs 111.75 crore for a 9.5-acre plot in Gurgaon put up for public auction in 2004.

Justice Pals order which has now been challenged in the Supreme Court set aside a Sessions Court order which had stopped the allotment,alleging an unholy nexus between HUDA and Orchid.