AP HC Chief Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari shifted to Sikkim

New Delhi: Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari was on Thursday transferred to the Sikkim High Court as its new chief justice.

Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court Justice Arup Kumar Goswami, meanwhile, has been posted to the Andhra Pradesh High Court to replace Justice Maheshwari, separate law ministry notifications issued on Thursday said.

The Supreme Court collegium had recently recommended to the government the transfer of four chief justices (CJs) of hiagh courts including Andhra Pradesh High Court's Chief Justice Maheshwari to the Sikkim High Court, weeks after Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had complained to the CJI about the state's top judiciary.

In an unprecedented move, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, on October 6, had written to Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde alleging that the state High Court was being used to "destabilise and topple his democratically-elected government."

The law ministry also notified the transfer of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, as a judge of the Karnataka High Court. Another notification said Justice Joymalya Bagchi, judge of the Calcutta High Court, has been transferred as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.