Delhi HC reshuffles 83 judicial officers, many of them handling high-profile cases

The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered a major reshuffle of the Delhi Higher Judicial Service (DHJS) and Delhi Judicial Service (DJS), transferring and assigning new postings to 83 judicial officers, including judges handling several high-profile cases.

The order includes the transfer of 28 DHJS and 10 DJS judges, while 45 DJS judges have been given new postings after completing their training.

Special CBI judge transferred

Among the 28 DHJS judges transferred is special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Sushant Changotra, who was hearing several high-profile cases, including a money laundering case linked to a land deal in Haryana’s Shikohpur involving businessman Robert Vadra.

The case is currently at the position of scrutiny of documents.

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Changotra was also hearing the fake medicine racket bribery case, in which IPS officer and current regional director of Directorate of Civil Aviation Deepak Gahlawat is among four accused.

Changotra has now been transferred to the southwest district courts in Dwarka.

Transfers from Rouse Avenue Court

Judge Dheeraj Mor, who was earlier assigned to hear cases related to irregularities in coal block allocations at Rouse Avenue Court before being attached to the principal district and sessions judge in August, has been transferred as an NDPS court judge at Saket Court.

Another special CBI judge transferred from Rouse Avenue Court is Manisha Khurana Kakkar, who was earlier posted as an additional sessions judge at Saket Court, where she presided over the Shraddha Walkar murder trial before being transferred out.

Kakkar and Changotra will be replaced by additional sessions judges Shivani Bansal and Satyabrata Panda of Dwarka and Tis Hazari courts, respectively.

Notably, the notification also abolishes the court of Special Judge (PC Act) Rouse Avenue, which was earlier presided over by Gaurav Rao.

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“The Ld. principal district judge (PDJ) shall distribute the cases pending in this court equally among the other CBI courts except courts handling coal block cases and the court presided over by Mr Ajay Gupta, special judge (PC Act) CBI-25,” the notification added.

So far, a link judge was presiding cases pending before special judge Gaurav Rao.