NEW DELHI: With the Supreme Court collegium turning down Madras High Court Chief Justice V K Tahilramani’s request to reconsider its decision to transfer her to the Meghalaya High Court, questions over lack of transparency in its decision making are back on the frontburner.
The collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had on August 28 passed a resolution recommending her transfer as the chief justice of the Meghalaya High Court. Parallely, Justice A K Mittal, who heads the Meghalaya HC, was recommended to take Justice Tahilramani’s position in the Madras HC.
Justice Tahilramani sought a review of the decision but the collegium which met on Tuesday, rejected it. “The collegium has carefully gone through the 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 transfer is done for the better administration of justice at Meghalaya High Court,” the resolution read.
Similarly, Justice Vivek Agarwal of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, who has been transferred to the Allahabad High Court, first expressed his consent but later requested reconsideration. His request was rejected. The collegium also rejected the request of Justice Amit Rawal of Punjab and Haryana High Court to review his transfer to the Kerala HC.
Justice Tahilramani is one of the senior-most high court judges in India. Before she began her tenure as the Madras High Court chief justice in August 2018, she had served as the acting chief justice of the Bombay High Court.