Odisha Judge Indrajit Mahanty May Get Transferred; Justice Kureshi To Replace Him In Rajasthan

By OB Bureau On Sep 18, 2021

Bhubaneswar: Odisha-born Justice Indrajit Mahanty is likely to be transferred to Tripura High Court as Chief Justice.

He is currently serving as the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court and is due to retire in November 2022.

According to media reports, Mahanty is among the five chief justices, who are likely to be transferred to head new high courts.

The current Chief Justice of Tripura High Court Akil Kureshi, who was overlooked by the Supreme Court collegium last month when it elevated nine judges to the top court, is likely to replace him.

“The collegium led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana held deliberations this week over the transfers. The decision is, however, not yet finalised and, therefore, the resolution has not been made public,” The Print quoted a source as saying.

Justice Kureshi’s exclusion from the August list despite being No. 2 in the All-India List of seniority for judges of high courts had come as a surprise and some media reports had questioned if he was paying a price for sending Amit Shah, now Union Home Minister, to police custody in 2010 for his alleged involvement in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.

Notably, the Centre had earlier opposed the collegium’s recommendation to appoint Justice Kureshi as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. Following this, he was appointed the Chief Justice of Tripura High Court on November 16, 2019.

Justice Mahanty was posted as a Judge in Bombay High Court before being elevated as the Chief Justice of Rajasthan HC in August 2019.

Born on November 11, 1960, in Cuttack, Justice Mahanty did his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, and Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Cambridge, UK.

He enrolled as an advocate with the Odisha State Bar Council in 1984. He began legal practice under his father late Br. Ranjit Mahanty. He was elevated as a Judge of the Orissa High Court on March 30, 2006.

Justice Mahanty was a member of the Bar Council of India from 1998 to 2003 and worked as its managing trustee in 2003.