In a series of orders, government shifts 7 HC judges, 4 from Karnataka

NEW DELHI: In a series of orders issued late Thursday, the Union law ministry notified the transfer of seven high court judges to different HCs, four of them from the Karnataka HC to the high courts of Gujarat, Orissa, Kerala and Madras.

Two judges of the Telangana high court have been transferred to the HCs of Madras and Karnataka while one has been transferred from the Andhra Pradesh HC to the Karnataka HC. The ministry also notified the appointment of seven new permanent judges for the Gujarat HC - it will now have 39 judges against a sanctioned strength of 52.

Justice Kumbhajadala Manmadha Rao of the Andhra Pradesh high court has been transferred to the Karnataka HC while Justice Kasoju Surendhar, alias K Surender, of the Telangana HC has been transferred to the Madras high court. Justice Perugu Sree Sudha of the Telangana HC has been transferred to the Karnataka HC.

Justices Hemant Chandangoudar, NS Sanjay Gowda, Krishnan Natarajan and Dixit Krishna Shripad of the Karnataka HC have been transferred to the HCs of Madras, Gujarat, Kerala and Orissa, respectively.

The govt has appointed Liyakathussain Shamsuddin Pirzada, Ramchandra Thakurdas Vachhani, Jayesh Lakhanshibhai Odedra, Pranav Maheshbhai Raval, MC Tyagi, Dipak Mansukhlal Vyas and Utkarsh Thakorbhai Desai to be judges of the Gujarat high court, in that order of seniority, with effect from the date they assume charge. Before this, the Gujarat HC had 20 judges.

The country's largest high court, Allahabad, remains at the top with at least 72 posts of judges still vacant against a sanctioned strength of 160. The total vacancies in the country's 25 high courts is 354 against a sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges.