Questions Raised Over Justice Kureshi's Exclusion From Supreme Court

INTRODUCTION

• Justice Akil Kureshi’s name is missing from the list of newly appointed nine Supreme Court judges, and it has raised troubling questions.
• The Supreme Court collegium, while making the latest recommendations, has picked up the senior most High Court Chief Justice AS Oka but has omitted the next senior Chief Justice AS Kureshi.
• Not taking into consideration the highly deserving Justice Kureshi’s name to elevate him to Supreme Court will send a distressing message to other judges.
• Justice Kureshi is set to retire on March 7, 2022 as a High Court judge.

TIMELINE OF HIS TRANSFERS

• The controversy relating to Justice Kureshi first appeared in 2018.
• He was transferred to the Bombay High Court, to take a lower seniority position of number five among the judges, while he was about to take charge as the Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, following the elevation of the then Chief Justice Subash Reddy.
• The Supreme Court collegium, in 2019, recommended the elevation of Justice Kureshi as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. But the approval of Justice Kureshi was selectively withheld, while other names on it were approved by it.
• After following certain communication with the Ministry of Justice, in September 2019, the Supreme Court collegium made a new proposal and suggested to elevate Justice Kureshi to Tripura High Court instead of Madhya Pradesh High Court.

SPECULATION FOR THE REASON

• As no particular reason was revealed to the public, there were speculations as to what was happening.
• It is believed that Justice Kureshi is a persona non grata for the Central Government due to some judgments given by him.
• In 2010, J Kureshi had ordered the remand of BJP leader Amit Shah, who was then the junior Home Minister of Gujarat. He was taken into two days of police custody regarding the Sohrabuddin encounter killing case.
• The 2012 decision of Justice Kureshi to uphold the Governor's appointment of (Retd) Justice RA Mehta as Lokayukta, also proved to be a setback for the State Government.

MERITIOUS JUDGE

• The merit of Justice Kureshi cannot be disputed.
• The home Bar of Justice Kureshi, the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association, has always supported him. They had also filed a petition in the Supreme Court for his elevation.
• At the Tripura High Court, he has delivered notable judgments based on civil liberties, protecting persons from arrests over social media posts critical on the government and much more.
• Even the dissenting judgement passed by him on Goolrokh Gupta case is notable as it emphasis on secularism and personal liberty.

DO YOU THINK IT IS UNFAIR TO NOT ELEVATE JUSTICE KURESHI TO SUPREME COURT?