Uttarakhand judge shifted on request: Collegium

New Delhi: The recommendation to transfer Uttarakhand Chief Justice K.M. Joseph as Chief Justice of Hyderabad High Court (for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state) has nothing to do with his recent judgement quashing President’s Rule in the state, according to highly-placed sources in the collegium headed by the Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur.

Soon after the collegium’s proposal was made public, former Additional Solicitor General and senior counsel Indira Jaising went on twitter linking the recommendation with the April 21 verdict pronounced by Justice Joseph and she had criticised the Narendra Modi government and the collegium for shifting Justice Joseph.

Sources told this correspondent that linking the transfer of Justice Joseph with the judgement was incorrect as this was done on health grounds pursuant to a request from Justice Joseph himself.

Far from the transfer being a sort of punishment, it was a favour extended to Justice Joseph as his request was pending with the Supreme Court collegium for the past two or three months.

Sources said Justice Joseph had recently undergone a heart bypass surgery and was finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the cool climate in the hill state. As he is one of the senior-most Chief Justices of High Courts, the collegium decided to transfer him to a higher High Court.