Resignation of Madras High Court Chief Justice V K Tahilramani accepted

President Kovind has accepted the resignation of Chief Justice Tahilramani

tahilramani

President Ramnath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Chief Justice of Madras High Court Vijaya K Tahilramani. 

She resigned after the Supreme Court collegium declined her request for reconsideration of transfer to Meghalaya.

The president accepted her resignation Friday night. On Saturday morning, the Union Law Ministry issued an official notification confirming the resignation of Justice Tahilramani. Her resignation has been accepted with effect from September 6, it said.

Justice V Kothari has been appointed as the acting chief justice of the Madras High Court, another notification said.

The SC collegium, headed by the CJI, had recommended transfer of Tahilramani, who was elevated as the high court chief justice on August 8 last year.

A petition was filed in the Madras High Court on Wednesday against the transfer of its Chief Justice Tahilramani to Meghalaya.

The petitioner, advocate M Karpagam, sought to prohibit the office of the President from giving effect to the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium transferring her to the Meghalaya High Court.

She prayed the court to adjudicate whether a proposal to transfer a chief justice of a high court can be made by the President or the SC collegium and whether non-consent of the CJ for such a transfer can be rejected by the collegium.

After senior counsel S Prabakaran made an urgent mention for hearing on the petition on Wednesday, a division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and N Seshasayee wondered why the plea was filed in the high court when the decision to transfer her was made by the SC collegium.

Contending that such a plea was well within the jurisdiction of the high court, the counsel for the petitioner said the transfer proposal was not a judicial decision but only an administrative recommendation and hence the HC can adjudicate the matter.

However, the bench refused an urgent hearing and said the maintainability of the petition would be decided once the plea gets listed.

(With PTI inputs)