Madras HC chief justice

jeev S Kalgaonkar had said the reasons of transfer of judges were not disclosed in the interest of the institution but the apex court Collegium would not hesitate to disclose them in the circumstance it becomes necessary.

The statement was released against the backdrop of media reports and speculation on the transfer of Justice Tahilramani.

Justice Tahilramani had resigned on September 6, days after the Supreme Court Collegium declined her request for reconsideration of her transfer.

She had sent her resignation letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, a copy of which was sent to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

Her transfer led to massive protests by lawyers both at the Madras High Court and Bombay High Court, where she was a judge before being appointed as the Chief Justice.

“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 by the secretary general had said.

It further had said that each of the recommendations was made after “full and complete deliberations” and the same were “unanimously agreed upon by the Collegium”.

The collegium, headed by Chief Justice Gogoi, had recommended transfer of Justice Tahilramani, who was elevated as the Madras High Court’s Chief Justice on August 8 last year, to the Meghalaya High Court.

The collegium had recommended her transfer on August 28, after which she made a representation requesting it to reconsider the proposal.

She had protested against the collegium’s decision to not consider her request against transferring her to the Meghalaya High Court.

The apex court collegium -also comprising justices S A Bobde, N V Ramana, Arun Mishra and R F Nariman -- had