Don’t be egoistic, consider woman judge’s transfer plea gracefully: Supreme Court to Jharkhand HC

The Supreme Court on Friday told the Jharkhand High Court to “gracefully” consider a woman Additional District Judge’s transfer request [Kashika M Prasad vs State of Jharkhand]..A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said the judge’s plea to be retained at Hazaribag or moved to Bokaro was not a matter of convenience but stemmed from her son’s education needs.The apex court stressed that the High Court should not act “egoistically” when the judge was seeking accommodation as a single mother“You can’t be egoistic as a High Court. Now you transfer her either to Bokaro or retain her at Hazaribag. Let it be done by the High Court gracefully, otherwise we will have to issue mandamus,” CJI Gavai said..The Court recorded that the judge, who is a single mother, had asked to remain in a district with proper schooling facilities so that she could continue with her judicial work while also supporting her son, who is due to appear for his class 12 board examinations in 2026.“The High Court acts as a parent to the judicial officers. The ground on which the petitioner has sought transfer to Bokaro is that she can continue with her judicial duties and also look after her son. She has said that in Dumka there are no proper schooling facilities. We hope that the petitioner’s request for retaining her at Hazaribag or transferring her to Bokaro ought to be considered favourably,” the order stated..The present hearing came against the backdrop of a larger dispute over her child care leave. Earlier this year, the Court was informed that while she had sought 194 days of leave, the High Court had sanctioned only 92 days. The Court had then allowed her to proceed on the sanctioned leave while directing the High Court administration to file a counter affidavit..After Supreme Court nudge, Jharkhand High Court grants 92 days child care leave to woman judge.At that time, the High Court's counsel had argued that her litigation regarding leave arose as a counterblast to her transfer orders. Soon after the judge's transfer away from Hazaribag was ordered, she had requested to be retained at Hazaribag or to be transferred to Bokaro which is around 100 kilometres away from Hazaribag so that she can tend to the needs of her son. But when the High Court did not consider her request favorably, she applied for a leave of 194 days out of which only 92 days were sanctioned. This prompted her to move the top Court. .The Supreme Court today made it clear that the transfer issue must be handled with sensitivity. It underlined that judicial officers should not be put in a position where their parental duties and professional responsibilities are forced into conflict.