Ahmedabad (The Hawk): The Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) decided to take an indefinite leave of absence from work on Thursday in protest against the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation to move Justice Nikhil S Kariel from Gujarat to Patna High Court. Three judges in two High Courts should be transferred for administrative purposes, according to a recommendation made on Wednesday by the Supreme Court Collegium, which is led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
Justices Nikhil S. Kariel from Gujarat, Justice A. Abhishek Reddy from Telangana, and acting Chief Justice T. Raja from the Madras High Court were all recommended for transfer by the Collegium to the Patna High Court.
The GHCAA has hastily called an extraordinary general body meeting of the association for Thursday at 2 pm "to discuss and pass an appropriate resolution on the Hon'ble Supreme Court Collegium recommendation transferring Justice Nikhil Kariel from Gujarat High Court to Patna High Court," according to the message it sent out in advance of the meeting. In order to express their suffering to the Supreme Court Collegium, the association decided to send letters to Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, and the Supreme Court judges who are also from the Gujarat High Court.
After learning of the transfer, hundreds of attorneys and senior attorneys gathered in the Gujarat High Court Chief Justice's courtroom.
"We're here to oppose the death knell, death to the independence of judiciary because of the transfer of Justice Kariel," senior attorneys Mihir Thakore and Asim Pandya said on behalf of the protesting judges. The supporters also stated that they wanted to observe a two-minute moment of silence. After asking why they had suddenly gathered in court, Chief Justice Aravind Kumar made the statement. Another lawyer in the room made the point that the Chief Justice of the High Court is consulted before such transfers are made.
The online news reports were also shown to the chief justice. However, the court stopped the live broadcast of the proceedings in the middle of it.
(Inputs from Agencies)