Madras HC Chief Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani abstains from proceedings amid controversy over transfer to Meghalaya

Madras High Court Chief Justice  Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani  abstained from court proceedings on Monday amid a controversy over her transfer to the Meghalaya High Court, The Week reported. Earlier, Chief Justice Tahilramani had decided to resign after she was transferred to the Meghalaya High Court, one of the smallest in India, by the Supreme Court Collegium. A notice issued by the assistant registrar of the Madras High court on Monday read, “The Honourable Chief Justice is not sitting in court on 09/09/2019,” [caption id=“attachment_5603861” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Madras High Court. Wikimedia Commons[/caption] According to Bar and Bench, the notice read, “Urgent Motions and Admissions in Public Interest Litigations relating to Rights of Women and Children filed on or after 1 January 2019 (all stages) Public Interest Litigations and writ appeals or writ petitions relating to unauthorised constructions, land encroachments (including in forest land) (all stages) writ petitions or civil revision petitions relating to the decisions of Debts Recovery Tribunals and Debt Recovery Apellate Tribunal moved if any are permitted to be moved before the Honourable Division bench consisting of Dr. Justice Vineet Kothari and Justice C Saravanan in court 2 on Monday, " the notice said. Tamil Nadu Law Minister CV Shanmugam reached out to Chief Justice Tahilramani, requesting her to reconsider her resignation, The Week quoted sources as saying. Lawyers in the Madras High Court and the Madurai bench rallied behind Tahilramani, and a section of advocates said that they would stage a protest on Monday demanding that the transfer be withdrawn, The Hindu reported. General body meetings were conducted at The Madras High Court Advocates’ Association (MHAA) in Chennai and the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court Bar Association (MMBA) to discuss the issue. The Supreme Court Collegium recommended her transfer on 28 August, after which she had made a representation to the Collegium requesting it to reconsider the proposal for transfer, but in vain.