'Rare' transfer of four Delhi High Court Justices by Supreme Court

February,13,2016: In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court has transferred four judges of the Delhi high court.

The SC collegium, TOI has learnt, decided to shift Justices Suresh Kait, V P Vaish, Rajiv Shakdher and Valmiki Mehta to other high courts. Sources said some of the judges have even received transfer letters from the Centre after the President approved the recommendations. The transferred judges are set to join the high courts of Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Madras and Gujarat, respectively, they added.

While Justice Vaish was elevated in Delhi HC from the subordinate judiciary and served as the registrar general earlier, the others joined the bench from the bar. The reshuffle is exceptional, observers said, as they are of middle-level seniority and won't be joining the other high court as chief justice.

"As a matter of practice, judges are transferred out only if they are being appointed as chief justice of some high court or getting elevated to the Supreme Court. It is very rare for the collegium to do such en-masse transfer," one of the judges said.TOI