Why Guj Bar Assoc Has Taken the Fight for Judge Kureshi to the SC
Senior advocates say the Centre is violating the usual procedure of promotion that respects judicial seniority.
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While the Centre continues to ignore the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation to appoint Justice Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the judge has the support of the Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association (GHCAA), which has challenged the central government’s inaction.
Judges are appointed by a five-member collegium, consisting of the Chief Justice of India and the four most senior judges of the Supreme Court.
Incidentally, on 22 May this year, the Centre issued 12 notifications appointing judges to various high courts and the Supreme Court; however, no notification was issued with regards to Justice Kureshi’s appointment to the MP HC.
The president of the GHCAA, senior advocate Yatin Oza, told The Quint that he believes this is a vendetta perpetrated by the BJP top brass at the behest of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The first hearing on the matter will be held on Monday, 15 July.
Why Is Justice Kureshi in Shah & Modi’s Crosshairs?
Yatin Oza claimed that Kuershi’s appointment as Chief Justice to MP HC was stalled because of two key judgments he passed almost a decade ago that angered Amit Shah and Narendra Modi.
The second judgement Justice Kureshi passed in 2012 pertains to the appointment of (Retd) Justice RA Mehta as Gujarat Lokayukta.
“The State government immediately challenged the decision in the Gujarat High Court, which was heard by a Justice Kureshi, who upheld the Governor’s decision. This angered the government, which had not appointed a Lokayukta since 2004,” Yatin Oza said.
The matter reached the Supreme Court, which upheld the High Court’s decision; however, Justice Mehta refused to take charge of the Lokayukta.
Kureshi’s Appointment As Acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court
According to Oza, the first signs of resentment against Justice Kureshi were visible in November 2018, over his appointment as acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
That month, Justice Subhash Reddy, the then-chief justice of the Gujarat High Court, was appointed as a Supreme Court judge. As per seniority, Justice Kureshi was supposed to be appointed as the acting Chief Justice of Gujarat.
Instead, he was transferred to Bombay High Court and Justice AS Dave, who is junior to Justice Kureshi, was appointed as acting Chief Justice of Gujarat. The GHCAA went on strike against Justice Kureshi’s transfer.
The General Secretary of the GHCAA, Senior Advocate Prithviraj Jadeja, told The Quint how Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi intervened in the matter.
“After Justice Kureshi was transferred to Bombay High Court, we met with CJI Ranjan Gogoi, who assured us that in 5-6 months, the CJI and the SC Collegium would recommend Kureshi’s name as chief justice to a good high court,” Jadeja said.
‘Judges Do Not File Pleas for Their Own Transfers or Promotions’
Jadeja categorically said that the GHCAA filed a petition in Supreme Court for Justice Kureshi out of concern for the independence of the Judiciary.
On 25 September 2017, Justice Jayant Patel of the Karnataka High Court resigned after he was transferred to Allahabad High Court. Justice Patel, who came from the Gujarat High Court, missed out on the opportunity to become the Chief Justice of Karnataka, where he was the second-most senior judge.
“Once the seniority is due, a judge is automatically promoted. This is how the judiciary actually works. This is not about a personal liking for Mr Kureshi, it could be any xyz judge,” Jadeja said.
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