‘Schadenfreude’ it’s a German word for the pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. The Congress cabal recently seized this pleasure when the Supreme Court of India rollbacked the promotion of 68 Gujarat lower judicial officers. Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma is among the 68 judicial officers. He was the judge who recently convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case. On May 12/13 almost every mainstream media reported this news.
English prominent newspaper, The Times of India reported, “SC halts promotion of Rahul case judge, 67 others.” The report further said, “The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the promotion of 68 judicial officers in Gujarat as district judges for violation of the “merit-cum-seniority” principle and directed that they be sent to the earlier post till the case is finally adjudicated. Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma, who recently convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case, is also one of them.”
The Financial Express reported, “Among the 68 promotees who will now bear the impact of the stay order is Harish Hasmukh Bhai Varma, the judge who passed the order convicting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case, eventually leading to his disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP.”
The Economic Times reported, “The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the promotion of 68 Gujarat lower judicial officers, including Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma who had convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case.”
When it comes to Vulture journalism, the likes of Scroll never miss a chance. The Scroll reported, “ Among those whose promotion was halted was Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma, who held Congress leader Rahul Gandhi guilty of criminal defamation on March 23 and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. Following the verdict, Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP.”
There are a few other news websites that reported this news. You can find it here and here.
By this point, there might be a few questions in our reader’s mind.
1- Really, the Supreme Court stopped Rahul Gandhi’s case judge from getting a promotion?
2- Were there any quid-pro-quo involved in the promotion of Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma?
Let’s fact check!
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Fact Check
We began our investigation through a Google search, we looked for relevant details germane to this particular case.
We found a recently published article by Bar and Bench, and the details published in the report baffled one’s mind.
The headline said, “The Supreme Court has not stayed the promotion of the judge who convicted Rahul Gandhi”
Furthermore, The Bar and Bench report quoted Supreme Court, Justice MR Shah, “That order has nothing to do with one person. The issue was about merit-cum-seniority or seniority-cum-merit. The reports on social media say that the bench stayed 68 promotions, but those persons have not read the order. Promotions of only persons falling outside the merit list (and who were promoted based on seniority) have stayed.
I have read that the gentleman (Surat court judge in Rahul Gandhi case) is not getting the promotion. That is also not true. He is also getting the promotion on merit. He is first among the 68 in terms of merit,“
Moreover, later in the report, Bar and Bench once again clarified that Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma would not be affected by the stay since he remains eligible even if the merit-cum-seniority criterion is followed.
Hence, we have established that Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma is being promoted, and the Supreme Court has not placed a stay on his elevation. Additionally, based on the statement of Honourable Judge MR Shah, we conclude that there was no quid-pro-quo involved in this matter. Magistrate Varma remains eligible for promotion even if the merit-cum-seniority criterion is followed.
However, to follow this chain of events, we need to find out what transpired during these events.
After delving into a couple of articles we found that on May 5 2023, Indian Express reported that, ‘SC to hear a plea against the promotion of judge who convicted Rahul Gandhi, 67 others.’
The Indian Express report said that the Supreme Court will hear a petition on May 8 challenging the promotion of 68 judicial officers to district judges under the 65 percent quota rule, including Judicial Magistrate Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma, who convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for criminal defamation and sentenced him to two years simple imprisonment.
It further said the petition was filed by two senior civil judge cadre judicial officers — Ravikumar Maheta, undersecretary in the Gujarat government’s legal department, and Sachin Prataprai Mehta, assistant director at the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority — challenging the selection of 68 judicial officers to the district judge cadre. The court was directed to set aside the appointment in the plea filed on March 28.
The Indian Express report also pointed out that, On April 28, the Supreme Court expressed its displeasure with the High Court for issuing a notification on April 18 regarding the transfer of judges in a sub judice proceeding.
Moreover, the SC noted this transgression to be prima facie a move “overreaching the court’s process”. To this effect, the apex court sought an explanation from the secretary of the state government on “the extraordinary urgency shown in the matter in giving promotion and issuing the notification dated 18.04.2023 granting the promotion, subject to the ultimate outcome of the proceedings.”
Therefore, we now know what occurred. The Supreme Court of India was not pleased with the Gujarat High Court’s decision to elevate the 68 judicial officers. Using the SC’s dissatisfaction as a pretext, the hoax of the ‘Supreme Court of India suspended the promotion of Rahul Gandhi’s case judge’ was propagated online.
| Claim | The Supreme Court stayed on the promotion of the Judge who disqualified Rahul Gandhi as an MP. |
| Claimed by | Times of India, Financial Express, The Economic Times and other mainstream media. |
| Fact Check | Fake and Misleading. |
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