On Monday, the Supreme Court directed the Madhya Pradesh High Court to revisit its decision to terminate the services of six female civil judges. A Bench led by Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh instructed that the full court of the High Court reassess the judges' cases and issue a resolution within a month.
The Supreme Court had initially taken suo motu notice of the terminations in January, prompting the appointment of Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal as Amicus Curiae to assist in the matter and to issue notice to the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The State government terminated the six judges' appointments in June 2023 based on the High Court’s recommendation. The terminations were executed by the law department after an administrative committee and full court meeting concluded that their performance during the probation period was unsatisfactory.
During a previous hearing, the Supreme Court had suggested to the High Court the possibility of reconsidering its decision. Following this, the Court’s recent order emphasized the need for the High Court to review the cases anew and submit a copy of its resolution to the Supreme Court, preferably within four weeks.
TAGS: Supreme Court Madhya Pradesh High Court termination civil judges reconsideration Justice BV Nagarathna Justice N Kotiswar Singh Amicus Curiae performance review probation period.
