The sanctioned strength of judges, including the Chief Justice in Tripura High Court is a total four. With only two judges in the High Court presently, hearing in several crucial and important cases is getting delayed.
A senior official of the Tripura High Court said that the Department of Justice under the Union Ministry of Law and Justice in a notification on Wednesday transferred incumbent Chief Justice of the High Court Sanjay Karol to Patna High Court as Chief Justice.
"No Chief Justice for Tripura High Court has been appointed yet as successor of Justice Karol. The President after consulting with the Chief Justice of India has transferred Justice Karol and asked him to assume charge of the Chief Justice of Patna HC on or before November 13," the official said, refusing to disclose his identity.
He also said that one post of Judge of Tripura High Court has been lying vacant for the past 32 months (since March 2017) after the retirement of Justice Swapan Chandra Das.
"If, before the November 13, no Chief Justice is appointed in Tripura High Court, it would be difficult to function the business of the High Court."
The Supreme Court Collegium-led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had last month recommended Gujarat High judge Justice A. A. Kureshi be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.
Earlier, the Supreme Court Collegium comprising the Chief Justice, Justices S.A. Bobde and N.V. Ramana in its resolution in May had recommended to the government to appoint Justice Kureshi as the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. However, the recommendation was sent back to the CJI by the government vide two communications dated August 23 and August 27.
Following this, the Collegium then asked the government to appoint Kureshi in Tripura High Court.
"These communications and material received from the Department of Justice have been placed before this Collegium. On reconsideration and after taking into account the two communications and the accompanying material, the Collegium resolves to reiterate its earlier recommendation (May 10) with the modification that Justice A. A. Kureshi be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court."
"The resolution of the Supreme Court Collegium does not disclose any reason for the sudden change of the proposal of the highest recommending body," the official added.
Along with Tripura, separate High Courts were also set up in Manipur and Meghalaya in 2013.
( With inputs from IANS )