The Supreme Court also said that “each of the recommendations was made after full and complete deliberations and the same were unanimously agreed upon by the Collegium”.The Supreme Court on Thursday defended recent recommendations made by its Collegium for transfer of Chief Justices and judges of various High Courts, saying these were made “unanimously” for “cogent reasons… in the interest of better administration of justice”.
The development comes amid reports of protest by Madras High Court Chief Justice V K Tahilramani over the Collegium’s decision to transfer her to Meghalaya High Court.
A statement signed by the Supreme Court Secretary General Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar and uploaded on the top court’s official webpage said “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.”
The statement added that “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 Supreme Court also 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, comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde, N V Ramana, Arun Mishra and R F Nariman, had decided to recommend Justice Tahilramani’s transfer on August 28 and sought her response. She urged reconsideration of the proposal, but the Collegium which met again on September 3 rejected this.
“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. The Collegium, accordingly, reiterates its recommendation dated 28th August, 2019 for transfer of Mrs. Justice V.K. Tahilramani to Meghalaya High Court,” the September 3 resolution of the Collegium said.
The Collegium also recommended that Meghalaya HC Chief Justice A K Mittal be transferred to the Madras High Court.
