Supreme Court agrees to hear plea on stay of 68 Gujarat judges’ promotion in July

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear in July a plea of several Gujarat judicial officers whose promotions, the apex court, had stayed.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, took note of the submissions of senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the judicial officers, that they have been reverted to their original lower cadre by the Gujarat High Court in pursuance of the decision of apex court on May 12.

According to a Free Press Journal report, Those demoted, by a bench headed by retired Justice MR Shah, do not include Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma as his promotion was based on merit. Varma had convicted Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case and sentenced him to two years of simple imprisonment, resulting in the cancellation of his Lok Sabha membership.

The senior lawyer said, “Several judicial officers are suffering “humiliation” due to the demotion and moreover, six states in the country follow the principle of seniority-cum-merit for promotion.”

“We will list it in July after the summer vacation,” the CJI said, adding they have been reverted on account of a decision of a coordinate bench of the apex court.

The apex court had earlier said that the promotion of the judicial officers was in violation of the Gujarat State Judicial Service Rules 2005, amended in 2011, which states that promotions must be made on the principle of merit-cum-seniority and on passing a suitability test.