Justice Atul Sreedharan was sworn in as a judge of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday, in a ceremony administered by Chief Justice Arun Bhansali. The appointment concludes a complex and unusual transfer process that saw the Supreme Court Collegium reverse an earlier recommendation following an intervention by the central government.
The transfer, finalized on October 18, has drawn scrutiny. The Supreme Court Collegium had initially recommended Justice Sreedharan be moved from the Madhya Pradesh High Court to the Chhattisgarh High Court. However, the government lodged a request opposing this move. In a subsequent decision, the Collegium “acceded” to the government’s request and instead approved his transfer to the Allahabad High Court.
This move marks the third time Justice Sreedharan has been transferred in less than two years.
In April 2023, he was moved from his parent High Court of Madhya Pradesh to the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. That transfer was initiated at the judge’s own request, citing the fact that his daughter was entering law practice in Madhya Pradesh.
He was then transferred back to the Madhya Pradesh HighCourt in March of this year, just months before this latest assignment to Allahabad.
The new posting also has significant implications for Justice Sreedharan’s seniority. He was a member of the High Court Collegium in Madhya Pradesh and would have been in a similar position at the smaller Chhattisgarh High Court. At the Allahabad High Court, the country’s largest, he will now be number seven in seniority.
Justice Sreedharan began his legal career in 1992 in the chamber of Senior Advocate Gopal Subramanium in Delhi, where he worked until 1997. After practicing independently in Delhi, he shifted to Indore in 2001. He also served as a Panel Advocate and Government Advocate for the State of Madhya Pradesh before his elevation to the bench. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on April 7, 2016, and was made a permanent judge on March 17, 2018.
Speaking at a farewell reference in Jabalpur recently, Justice Sreedharan stated that “transfers are an incident of service” and that he was “excited and looking forward to serving” at the Allahabad High Court.
