Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Harish Hasmukhbhai Varma, the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) of Surat, was one of 68 lower court judges in Gujarat whose promotions were halted by the Supreme Court on Friday. Varma had found Rahul Gandhi guilty in the Modi name-defamation case in March.
The state administration received harsh criticism from a bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar for notifying the promotions while their legality was still being debated.
The notion of merit-cum-seniority and passing a suitability test must govern the promotion process. The panel ruled that the high court’s recommendations and the accompanying government notice were unlawful, according to Live Law.
