Madras High Court Chief Justice VK Tahilramani decides to resign after Collegium proposes transfer to Meghalaya

Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, VK Tahilramani has decided to submit her resignation days after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended that she be transferred to the Meghalaya High Court, reports NDTV.

A resolution for her transfer was first passed on August 28, “in the interest of better administration of justice.” By another resolution passed the same day, the Collegium had recommended that Chief Justice AK Mittal, who presently helms the Meghalaya High Court take Chief Justice Tahilramani’s place at the Madras High Court instead.

Justice Tahilramani was appointed as an Additional Judge on June 26, 2001 making her the senior-most Chief Justice of a High Court in India and would have retired as a High Court Judge on October 2, 2020 unless elevated to the Supreme Court.

Justice Tahilramani had then written to the Collegium requesting it to reconsider the proposal to transfer her to Meghalaya High Court.

The Supreme Court Collegium had, however, refused to accede to her request and passed a resolution on September 3 reiterating its earlier recommendation to transfer Justice Tahilramani to the Meghalaya High Court.

The abrupt proposal to transfer Chief Justice Tahilramani to the Meghalaya High Court had raised eyebrows, given that Justice Tahilramani is currently the senior-most judge among High Court judges in the country. Before being appointed Madras High Court Chief Justice, she was heading the Bombay High Court as its acting Chief Justice. While Madras and Bombay High Courts are two among the largest High Courts in the country, the Meghalaya High Court has a sanctioned strength of three judges including the Chief Justice.

After enrolment with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, Justice Tahilramani joined the Chamber of her father late LV Kapse, renowned advocate. Thereafter, she started independent practice in the High Court of Bombay and also City Civil and Sessions Court, Mumbai. In 1990, she was appointed as an Assistant Government Pleader and an Additional Public Prosecutor in the High Court at Bombay. In 1997, she was appointed a Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor at the Bombay High Court. She was elevated as Judge of the Bombay High Court in 2001. Thereafter, she was appointed the Acting Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. In August 2018, she was transferred to Madras High Court as Chief Justice.

Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.