Can Dismissal Of 6 Women Judges Be Reconsidered? Supreme Court Ask Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Supreme Court on Friday (February 2) orally asked the Madhya Pradesh High Court if it could reconsider the decision to terminate the services of six women judges.

A bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol was considering a suo motu writ petition initiated by the Supreme Court over the termination of these judges by the Madhya Pradesh government in June last year. Last month, the Court had issued notice to the Registrar General of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in the suo motu case.

"Convey our intentions to the high court," the bench told the counsel representing the High Court.

The judges, terminated last year, alleged that the decision was primarily based on their disposal rate not meeting specified standards. Last year, three of them had written to the top court, arguing that their services were terminated at an early stage in their careers, even though a quantitative assessment of their work was hindered by the considerable lapse of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the judges' grievances, the Supreme Court took cognisance of the matter on its own motion and directed the appointment of Senior Advocate Gaurav Agarwal as amicus curiae. During the last hearing, Agarwal informed the court that three of the former judges had approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court with their complaints, but the matter had not been taken up. Additionally, it was revealed that some of the aggrieved officers had previously approached the Supreme Court with writ petitions under Article 32, which were later withdrawn.

Case Details

In Re: Termination of Civil Judge, Class-II (Junior Division) Madhya Pradesh State Judicial Services | SMW (Civil) No. 2 of 2023