The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Wednesday resolved to recommend transfer of Chhattisgarh High Court judge Arvind Singh Chandel to the Patna High Court after he sought reconsideration of the earlier proposal.
On March 15, the collegium had proposed transfer of Justice Chandel to the Madras High Court for better administration of justice.
In terms of the Memorandum of Procedure, Justice Chandel was requested to send his response to the recommendation. By a communication dated March 17, he requested reconsideration of the proposal of his transfer or to consider transferring him to any of five high courts: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Allahabad, Punjab and Haryana or Delhi.
The collegium consulted a Supreme Court judge familiar with Chhattisgarh High Court affairs and the Patna High Court chief justice, who both approved Justice Chandel’s transfer. “We have carefully gone through the request made by Mr Justice Arvind Singh Chandel. We are of the view that the request of Mr Justice Arvind Singh Chandel to reconsider the proposal for transfer or to transfer him to any of the above five High Courts cannot be accepted. “
“Appreciating his difficulty, the collegium partially accedes to his request and resolves to recommend that Mr Justice Arvind Singh Chandel be transferred to the High Court of Judicature at Patna, instead of the Madras High Court as proposed by the Collegium on March 15, 2024,” the collegium, also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose, stated.