India’s High Courts stepping up is a silver lining in judicial gloom

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]N 19th February 2020, the Supreme Court Collegium, which decides the appointment of judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court, recommended the transfer of Justice S. Muralidhar, a noted and upright judge of the Delhi High Court to the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

While a big gain to the Punjab & Haryana High Court, it was seen as a considerable loss to the Delhi High Court, and many viewed it as a 'punitive' transfer since Justice Muralidhar had given many significant decisions in recent times, including quashing the transit remand of Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon cases in 2018. At the same time, it is important to note that how a fair judge adds value to every High Court, especially the ones in the smaller Courts, not that P&H High Court is a small one.

One may recall the case of Justice Akil Kureshi, one of the senior-most judges of Bombay High Court who was first recommended to be the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court, but then was made the Chief Justice of Tripura High Court in November 2019, owing to the government's objections to his transfer to Madhya Pradesh. The transfer was widely condemned by the lawyers and jurists and was seen as a vindictive act by the Modi Government.

In January 2020, Chief Justice Kureshi delivered a landmark judgment upholding the freedom of government servant to express their opinions/beliefs, subject to the Civil Service Conduct Rules, thereby showing that a fair judge would apply the law in a correct fashion anywhere, irrespective of the bench strength of the High Court.

Right to protest

In the last few months, the role of the Supreme Court in protecting the constitutional rights of people has come under intense scrutiny, with people being dismayed at the apex court's inaction in most matters of personal liberty, including in Kashmir, and in the anti-CAA/NRC protests.

With the judiciary taking a backseat and letting the Executive run amok, the crisis of the constitutionalism in India has never been worse. In this regard, thankfully some High Courts have given decisions upholding the rule of law, and the fundamental freedoms of the Indian citizens, especially of those who are protesting against the new citizenship law.

High Courts stand up

In January 2020, the Allahabad High Court directed the National Human Rights Commission ('NHRC') to conduct a thorough inquiry into allegations of gross brutality and violence by the UP police on young students of the Aligarh Muslim University on 15th December 2019. While noting the Petitioner's contentions, the Court observed that "the photographs annexed with the petition reflect certain serious happenings which are termed by the petitioner as brutal, violation of human rights that also amounts to commission of a cognizable crime. The narration of facts certainly demands a probe." The High Court then asked the NHRC to complete the inquiry within one month.