Ex- SC justice clarifies promotion of judge who convicted Rahul Gandhi ‘not stayed’

New Delhi: Justice MR Shah of the Supreme Court, who retired on Monday, has clarified that his panel did not stay Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma's elevation after he sentenced Congressman Rahul Gandhi to two years of simple imprisonment in March. The judge who issued the order claimed that the media had misreported the stay he had ordered. According to him, Varma would not be included in the scope of the stay, Free Press Journal reported.

Judges typically don't give further explanations of their decisions, but Justice Shah believed that the inaccurate media reporting had sent the incorrect message. “That order has nothing to do with one person. The issue was about merit-cum-seniority or seniority-cum-merit. The reports on social media said that the bench has stayed all 68 promotions, but those persons have not read the order. Promotions of only persons falling outside the merit list [and who were promoted based on seniority] have been stayed, he said.“I have read that the gentleman [the Surat judge] is not getting the promotion. That is also not true. He is also getting promotion on merit. He is first among the 68 in terms of merit,” Justice Shah said.

The Gujarat government and Gujarat High Court's decisions to appoint district judges based on seniority-cum-merit were challenged in a suit filed by prospective district judges, leading to the Supreme Court's decision to issue a stay. It was argued that the same should have been applied to the current merit-cum-seniority concept, which prioritises merit over seniority.

Judge Varma would not be affected by the stay, according to Justice Shah's latest clarification, as he is qualified even if the merit-cum-seniority criterion is applied.