Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the transfer of former Chief Justice V K Tahilramani to Meghalaya High Court. The court had reserved its verdict in the case on Friday hours before the President accepted Tahilramani’s resignation.
The petition filed by advocate R Prabakaran had sought to restrain the President’s office from accepting Supreme Court collegium’s recommendation to transfer Justice Tahilramani to the Meghalaya High Court.
After hearing the case, the division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and N Seshasayee had reserved the verdict. Tahilramani, who assumed office as CJ of Madras High Court in 2018, is best known for her verdict upholding life sentence awarded to 11 convicts in the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots during her tenure in the Bombay High Court. This is the only case in connection with the riots that resulted in conviction.
Tahilramani had quit on September 6 as she was upset that her request to reconsider the decision to transfer her to Meghalaya High Court, which has a strength of just three judges, from Madras High Court which has a sanctioned strength of 75 judges, was not considered by the Collegium.
The Collegium headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising four other senior most judges had on August 28 proposed her transfer to the Meghalaya HC, which had maximum strength of three judges only.
On September 3, the Collegium had declined Justice Tahilramani's request, made on September 2, to reconsider the decision. It had reiterated its recommendation. She had resigned on September 6.
Tahilramani, who was acting Chief Justice of Bombay High Court for two years, had succeeded Indira Banerjee, who was elevated as Judge of Supreme Court.