Judge's Consent Not Necessary For Transfer: Law Ministry

In a response to a representation by Mr. Sapreet Singh Ajmani, National President of the Youth Bar Association of India (YBAI), the Law Ministry has made it clear that it is not necessary to obtain consent from a Judge before transferring him.

The response, issued under the letterhead of the Ministry of Law & Justice, states, "The initiation of the proposal for the transfer of a Judge should be made by the Chief Justice of India whose opinion in this regard is determinative. Consent of a Judge for his first or subsequent transfer would not be required. All transfers are to be made in public interest i.e. for promoting better administration of justice throughout the country."

Mr. Ajmani had made a representation to the Union Minister of Law & Justice regarding transfer of Judges from their parent High Courts. He had also sought framing of guidelines for transfer of High Court Judges, similar to the ones in existence for transfer of subordinate Judicial Officers.

Earlier in June, the YBAI had also made a representation to the then President, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, demanding transfer of Judges to High Courts where they have not regularly practiced as Advocates.

Warning against the “dastardly results” of appointment of former Advocates as Judges in Courts where they have practiced for years, the representation had said, “It is very unfortunate and rather discriminatory that the Judges of the Subordinate Courts and even the Police Constable, is not allowed to hold the office in his home district or even adjoining to his/her home district and they are transferred on regular intervals but the High Court Judges have been allowed to hold the office in the same High Court, where they practiced for several years, having good clientage, juniors, friends, kith and kin as well as rivals. The juniors and associates of some of the elevated judges are adopting all unfair means, which may be verified by analyzing the judicial orders passed in the cases, in which they are appearing. This system needs to be immediately reviewed, otherwise there would be dastardly results and people will lose faith in the judicial system of our country.”