Bangalore Advocates Association calls for transfer of Chief Justice SK Mukherjee

A little over a week after Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court SK Mukherjee reportedly revealed in open court that he had been offered a bribe, lawyers in Bangalore are demanding his transfer..The Advocates Association of Bangalore yesterday held a General Body meeting to discuss the incident. And they have passed a resolution seeking the transfer of the Chief Justice..Speaking to Bar & Bench, HC Shivaramu, President of the Association said,.“We have requested the Chief Justice of India to direct an investigation into the issue. We have also requested him to transfer the present Chief Justice, who is already under a transfer order, according to news reports.”.It was reported earlier that Chief Justice Mukherjee was likely to be transferred to head the Uttarakhand High Court, following Justice KM Joseph’s transfer to the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad..Shivaramu also admitted that he was not witness to what exactly transpired in Court Hall 1 on July 5, and that the Association has had to rely on news reports..According to these reports, Mukherjee CJ. said in open court that a Bengali-speaking person had come to his residence and offered him a bribe in return for disposing of a case listed to be heard before him..In fact, the Chief Justice even produced the visiting card of the person when Senior Advocate Padmanabha V Mahale was arguing for Umrah Developers, who had filed a revision petition in a land revenue case. Justice Mukherjee subsequently recused from hearing the case..The fact that Mukherjee CJ. has not taken action against the person in question has prompted the Association to hold the meeting and pass the resolution..This is not the first the Association has resolved to seek the transfer of a Chief Justice. In September 2014, a similar resolution was passed against present DH Waghela J., who is now Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court..Just last month, a sitting judge of the Kerala High Court, KT Sankaran J., recused after revealing that he was offered a bribe of Rs. 25 lakh in a gold smuggling case.