NEW DELHI: Putting an end to all rumours, the Supreme Court Secretary-General has clarified that the apex court will have no hesitation in disclosing reasons for transfer of judges if found necessary.
The statement by Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar comes in the wake of the recent collegium decision of transferring the Madras High Court Chief Justice V K Tahilramani to Meghalaya High Court.
“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. As directed, it is stated that each of the recommendations for transfer was made for cogent reasons after complying with the required procedure in the interest of better administration of justice. Though it would not be in the interest of the institution to disclose the reasons for transfer, if found necessary, the collegium will have no hesitation in disclosing the same,” the statement reads.
The collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, had recommended Tahilramani's transfer to the Meghalaya High Court on August 28. The collegium has already transferred Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, Justice AK Mittal, to the Madras High Court.
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," said the resolution dated September 3.
Justice Tahilramani was one of the senior-most high court judges in the country. 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.
Justice Tahilramani’s transfer had raised objections as she moves from one of the oldest and largest high courts in the country to one of the newest.
The Madras HC functions at a sanctioned strength of 75 judges and currently has over 4 lakh pending cases. On the other hand, the Meghalaya HC was set up in 2013 and has a sanctioned strength of three judges.