New Delhi: The Allahabad high court Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker created a flutter on Wednesday, November 22, when he accused former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra of ordering his transfer from the Chhattisgarh high court in 2018 “with an ill intention to harass” him.

“I discharged my duties as a judge in Chhattisgarh high court till October 2018 to the satisfaction of one and all, and particularly to the satisfaction of my own inner being… Now, a sudden turn of events descended upon me when then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra showered on me some extra affection for reasons still not known to me which entailed my transfer to Allahabad high court where I assumed office on October 3, 2018. My transfer order seemed to have been issued with an ill intention to harass me,” the judge said on his last day in office. 

He did not explain what the ill intention or alleged harassment was.

Justice Diwaker, however, thanked the current CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, under whose leadership the Collegium recommended him for the position of the chief justice of the Allahabad high court. 

Born in 1961, Justice Diwakar graduated in law from Durgawati University in Jabalpur and enrolled as an advocate in 1984. He was designated as a senior advocate in January 2005 and elevated as a judge of the Chhattisgarh high court in 2009. 

In his farewell speech, Justice Diwakar said that his transfer to the Allahabad high court, although unwarranted, “turned into boon for me because I received immeasurable support and cooperation from my companion judges as well as from the members of the Bar.” He has been a judge of the Allahabad HC since October 3, 2018.

He praised the Allahabad HC as a “great institution which has its unique style of working and traditions” and that it was “a matter of pride” for him to have worked there. 

“Balancing a heavy workload is indeed a challenge in the Allahabad high court. Furthermore, this court was subjected to criticism from various corners in relation to its functioning. But I am of the firm belief that before reaching a particular conclusion, critics must see the difficulties and shortcomings prevailing in the institution from the inside,” he said.

The retiring judge’s remarks came at his farewell function in Prayagraj on Tuesday, a day after Justice Bibek Chaudhuri, who was recently transferred from the Calcutta high court to the Patna high court, took a swipe at the Collegium. “I must say that in 1975 during Emergency, 16 judges of different High Courts were transferred by an executive decision in one go. After almost 48 years, 24 judges have been transferred from one High Court to another by the Collegium of the Honorable Supreme Court in one go,” Justice Chaudhuri said in his farewell speech. 

Justice Chaudhuri said that his transfer is “the beginning of the introduction and implementation” of the government of India’s 1983 policy that the chief justices of high courts and one-third of the high court judges should be from outside the state. However, he added, “… I know that the Constitution contains a provision under Article 222 that a judge should transfer. Therefore, I accept the transfer without any remorse. But at the same time, with all humility, I must say that judicial pronouncements are there that Article 222 should be looked into, should be considered very sparingly.”

“I received utmost respect, love and affection from the members of the Bar and therefore I feel sorry to leave you. However, it was the desire from the Collegium who parted me away from you,” Justice Chaudhuri said. 

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