On recommendation from the Gujarat High Court, the state government has asked four senior district cadre judges to take voluntary retirement with immediate effect. Although the official reason for this order is not known, sources say that the judges have been asked to leave their posts because of unsatisfactory performance. Reportedly, after a performance review, the officials found that the four judges had a low case disposal ratio.
The order for the four judges was issued by the state legal department, citing Rule-21 of the Gujarat State Judicial Service Rules, 2005. The department has also clarified that since the judges were not given any notice period, they would get at least three months’ pay and allowances.
The judges are Rajeshkumar Modi, an additional district judge in Bhavnagar, and Avinash Gupta, principal judge of a family court in the Kutch district. The other two are additional district judge Sangita Joshi in Morbi and Additional district judge Amrutlal Dhamani in Anand district.
Meanwhile, there is talk among the legal circles that the HC has suspended 90 judges of the subordinate judiciary. A similar situation arose in 2009 when the HC had asked 17 senior judicial officers of the lower judiciary to take premature retirement.
