Supreme Court Collegium recommends transfer of four Gujarat High Court judges

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of four Gujarat High Court judges to four other High Courts. .The following are the four judges who have been recommended for transfers to different High Courts:Justice Alpesh Y Kogje to the Allahabad High Court;Justice Gita Gopi to the Madras High Court;Justice Hemant M Prachchhak to the Patna High Court; andJustice Samir J Dave to the Rajasthan High Court..In its resolution dated August 10, the Collegium has proposed the transfer of these four judges for the ‘better administration of justice.'.Notably, Justice Hemant M Prachchhak was recently in the news when he refused to stay the conviction and two-year jail term imposed on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case for his remark "All thieves have Modi surname." In a 123-page verdict passed in July, the judge had observed that no case was made out to stay the conviction. On a related note, Justice Gita Gopi earlier recused from hearing the same matter in April this year. Last week, Justice Samir Dave recused from hearing the plea by activist Teesta Setalvad to quash the case lodged against her for allegedly fabricating evidence in relation to the 2002 Godhra riots. Prior to this, the judge drew some criticism when he made oral observations on how girls in the past used to be married off at the age of 14 to 15 years and would deliver their first child by the age of 17 years. Justice Dave later brushed off such criticism by noting that a judge must be like a "Stithaprajna" which as per Bhagavad Gita means one should ignore both criticism as well as appreciation..[Read Resolution]