In a surprise development, the Gujarat government legal department on Friday issued a revised order withholding the transfers of 11 judicial officers, including the two presiding officers of the special courts hearing the 2002 communal riot cases.
The revised order, the government sources said, was issued at the behest of the Gujarat High Court. At the recommendation of the High Court, the transfer orders were issued to 11 judicial officers on Thursday, including Mr M. H. Shah, who was functioning as the Secretary of the legal department of the State government. The reason for withholding the transfers, at least for the time being, was not immediately known.
The sources said the revised order said all the transfers should be kept pending till January 14 and all the transferred judges would continue to function at the same place till further orders.
The transfer orders had baffled the legal experts because it included the judges hearing the two most heinous massacres of 2002, Gulberg Society, where 69 people were burnt alive, and Naroda-Patia, which accounted for 96 deaths. The hearing in both the cases had reached almost the concluding stages and the legal experts feel that a change of the presiding officer at this stage could delay the final proceedings.
The transfer of the controversial session judge, B. U. Joshi, who was hearing the Gulberg Society massacre case, had come as a great relief to many victims and the Mumbai-based voluntary organisation, the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), which had been demanding a change of the judge accusing him of “biased” towards the accused. The High Court, which was earlier petitioned for a change after the principal sessions judge expressed his inability to make changes, had earlier rejected the demand of the CJP and the issue was pending in the Supreme Court.
Mr. Joshi, who was transferred to Dahod, was earlier asked to hand over the charge of the Gulberg Society court by January 7 to his successor who was yet to be named. The judge of the special court hearing the Naroda-Patia massacre case, Jyotsnaben Yagnik, was transferred to Himmatnagar, the district headquarter of Sabarkantha, but for the time being would continue to function at the existing courts.
