Lucknow: In a significant reshuffle, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday evening transferred 42 judges across various districts of Uttar Pradesh, affecting several key judicial posts, including those connected to high-profile cases like Gyanvapi and long-pending murder trials.
Among the major transfers, District Judge Jai Prakash Tiwari of Kanpur Dehat has been appointed as the District Judge of Varanasi. Notably, hours before his transfer, Judge Tiwari delivered a verdict in a four-year-old murder case, sentencing a man to life imprisonment for murdering his wife and imposing a ₹10,000 fine.
Meanwhile, District Judge Sanjeev Kumar Pandey, who was handling seven Gyanvapi-related cases in Varanasi, has been transferred to Meerut. Pandey, who joined judicial services in 2011, had served in Baghpat before being posted to Varanasi. His transfer may impact the future proceedings of the Gyanvapi cases, a matter of national interest.
In other significant changes:
- Sambhal District Judge Kamlesh Kuchhal has been moved to Jhansi. Just a week ago, he delivered a life sentence to four convicts in a gruesome 2018 murder case related to a land dispute, where a woman was burnt alive in her home.
- Rajat Singh Jain, previously District Judge of Meerut, has been appointed as District Judge of Etawah.
- Durg Narayan Singh, District Judge of Bhadohi, will now take over in Sambhal.
- Ravi Kumar Diwakar, known for ordering the 2022 Gyanvapi Mosque survey, has been transferred from Bareilly to Chitrakoot.
Legal observers view this wave of transfers as part of the judiciary’s routine administrative restructuring, though the reassignment of judges handling sensitive and high-profile cases is expected to draw attention.
For whole tarnsfer lists, see below files-
This reshuffle follows a much larger transfer order issued on March 31, in which the Allahabad High Court transferred 582 judicial officers, including 236 Additional District and Sessions Judges, 207 Civil Judges (Senior Division), and 139 Civil Judges (Junior Division).
The highest number of judges transferred in the current round were from Kanpur (13), followed by Aligarh (11) and Bareilly (5).
