Supreme Court Stays Promotion of 68 Judicial Officers Including Judge in Gujarat

NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government's intention to promote 68 judicial officers as district judges, including Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma, who convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case, was stayed by the Supreme Court on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled that promotions must be determined on the basis of merit-cum-seniority and passing a suitability test.

On the other hand, as per a report, Justice M R Shah Read out the verdict as, “The promotions must be made on the principle of merit-cum-seniority and on passing a suitability test. Recommendations by the high court and subsequent government notification are illegal,"

"We are more than satisfied that the impugned list issued by the high court and the subsequent order issued by the state government granting promotion to district judges are illegal and contrary to the decision of this court. The same is, therefore, not sustainable," it further said.

Furthermore, according to the recruitment guidelines, the office of the district judge was to be filled by keeping the 65 percent reserve on the basis of merit-cum-seniority and passing a suitability test. The merit-cum-seniority principle, on the other hand, was upheld, and appointments were made on the basis of seniority-cum-merit.

Following the decision, the Gujarat High Court was asked to create a "fresh merit list" based on merit and seniority.

Recently, the BJP filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against Congress' Rahul Gandhi in connection with the 'Modi Surname' statement, which resulted in Rahul's disqualification as a Member of Parliament.

On the other side, Rahul Gandhi, 52, was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison in Gujarat on March 23 for his speech during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign. Purnesh Modi, a BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister, filed the complaint against Rahul Gandhi, asking, "How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?" Mr. Gandhi was given bail for 30 days to appeal the verdict by the lower court.

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