New Delhi: The Gujarat government was reprimanded by the Supreme Court on Friday for promoting 68 judicial officers despite the matter being sub-judice, and all promotions of judges, including the judge who convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for criminal defamation, to district judges were annulled.
The Gujarat High Court's recommendation for the promotion of judicial officers, including Harish Hasmukh Bhai Varma, who had convicted Rahul Gandhi and sentenced him to two years imprisonment, has been put on hold by a two-judge bench comprising Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar.
The two-year jail sentence of Rahul Gandhi was the basis for his being disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha for which orders were issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat with unusual speed.
The bench also stayed the notice issued by the Gujarat government, which called for the implementation of the High Court's recommendation. The bench noted that the state government's orders violated the recruitment rules of Gujarat, which require promotions to be based on merit cum seniority.
Previously, the Supreme Court had expressed dissatisfaction with the High Court's notification on the transfer of judges, including Varma, which was issued on a sub judice matter. The notification indicated that Varma would be transferred as an additional district judge to the Rajkot district court.
Despite their intention to dispose of the plea, the bench refrained from doing so as the state government had already decided to promote the officers. Instead, the bench stayed with the implementation of the promotion list.