Cogent reasons for High Court judge transfers: Supreme Court

The Collegium recommendation to the government to transfer Madras High Court Chief Justice V.K. Tahilramani to Meghalaya High Court had triggered a spate of critical articles and opinions in the media. Justice Tahilramani has since then conveyed her resignation.

September 13, 2019 12:54 am | Updated December 04, 2021 10:37 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Supreme Court Secretary-General Sanjeev S. Kalgaonkar. Photo: sci.gov.in/registry-officers

Supreme Court Secretary-General Sanjeev S. Kalgaonkar. Photo: sci.gov.in/registry-officers

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a statement that each recommendation for transfer of Chief Justices and judges of the High Courts were made for cogent reasons, in compliance with the required procedure, in the better interest of administration of justice.

The statement said each of the transfer recommendations was made after “full and complete deliberations”. The recommendations were made by the Collegium unanimously.

The statement said though it was not in the interest of the institution to disclose the reasons for transfer, if found necessary, the Collegium would have no hesitation in divulging them.

The statement was issued by Supreme Court Secretary-General Sanjeev S. Kalgaonkar.

The Collegium recommendation to the government to transfer Madras High Court Chief Justice V.K. Tahilramani to Meghalaya High Court had triggered a spate of critical articles and opinions in the media. Justice Tahilramani has since then conveyed her resignation.

The statement contextualised that “certain reports relating to recommendations recently made by the Collegium regarding transfer of Chief Justices/Judges of the High Courts have appeared in the media”.

 

The statement from the court did not single out the proposal of the Collegium led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to transfer Justice Tahilramani, but is of a general note.

Besides the CJI, the Collegium is composed of Justices S.A. Bobde, N.V. Ramana, Arun Mishra and Rohinton F. Nariman.

In Justice Tahilramani’s case, the Collegium had asked the judge to send her response, under the Memorandum of Procedure, to its proposal to transfer her. She had subsequently, on September 2, requested the Collegium to re-consider its August 28 recommendation. On September 3, the Collegium had refused her request and reiterated its recommendation.

 

“The Collegium has carefully gone through the aforesaid representation and taken into consideration all relevant factors. On reconsideration, the Collegium is of the considered view that it is not possible to accede to her request. The Collegium, accordingly, reiterates its recommendation dated 28th August, 2019 for transfer of Mrs. Justice V.K. Tahilramani to Meghalaya High Court,” the Collegium resolution of September 3 read.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.