NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice M R Shah, who retired on Monday, clarified that his bench had not stayed on May 12 the promotion of Surat’s chief judicial magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma who had held Rahul Gandhi guilty and sentenced him to two years of simple imprisonment.
The judge, who had delivered the order, said the stay passed by him was reported incorrectly by the media as the judge who convicted Rahul will not fall under the ambit of the stay. He said the order is clear that the stay will not apply to those in the list who would get promoted based on merit alone.
“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 say that the bench stayed all the 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.
I have read that the gentleman (Surat court judge in Rahul Gandhi case) is not getting the promotion. That is also not true. He is also getting the promotion on merit. He is first among the 68 in terms of merit,” Justice Shah said.
The Supreme Court’s stay order was passed on a petition filed by aspiring district judges challenging the decisions of the Gujarat government and the Gujarat High Court to make appointments on the basis of seniority-cum-merit.
It was contended that the same should have been on the existing principle of merit-cum-seniority, as per which merit is given preference over seniority.
Justice Shah has now clarified that Judge Varma would not fall within the ambit of stay, since he is eligible even if the merit-cum-seniority criterion is followed.
