Supreme Court Asks Full Court Of MP High Court To Re-Consider Dismissal of 6 Women Judicial Officers
The Supreme Court (yesterday on July 23), in a suo motu writ petition registered regarding the simultaneous termination of services of 6 female civil judges in Madhya Pradesh, asked the full court of the MP High Court to reconsider the issue.
The matter pertained to 6 female judges appointed to the Judicial Services of the State of Madhya Pradesh who were terminated from service last year by the Madhya Pradesh government. The State government's decision was preceded by the meeting of the Administrative Committee of the High Court recommending the termination of these judicial officers. The Full Court meeting affirmed this. One may note that the reasoning given in the termination order was unsatisfactory work done by the petitioners during the probation period.
Previously, the Court was apprised that the Administrative Committee of the State High Court has resolved not to consider reinstatement of the officers.
However, yesterday, Amicus Curiae Senior Advocate Gaurav Agarwal apprised the bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh that although the concerned committee had earlier considered the matter and reiterated its earlier resolutions, the full court of the High Court could nevertheless consider the matter.
Taking note of this submission, the Division Bench ordered:
“We request the full court of the High Court of MP to reconsider the resolutions and orders impugned in this Suo Motu and other writ petitions. On reconsideration by the Full Court, a copy of the resolution would be placed before this Court within four weeks.”
To put it in brief, the officers had claimed that their services had been terminated in the initial stage of their career, despite the fact that a quantitative assessment of their work could not place due to a considerable lapse of time on account of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Notice in the petition was issued on January 12, considering that suo motu cognizance of the matter had already been taken by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. As four officers were represented in some or other capacity, a response was sought from the remaining two officers as well as the Registrar General of MP High Court.
Case Title: IN RE: TERMINATION OF CIVIL JUDGE, CLASS-II (JR. DIVISION) MADHYA PRADESH STATE JUDICIAL SERVICE, SMW(C) No. 2/2023