Madras High Court Chief Justice Vijaya K Tahilramani resigns in protest against transfer to Meghalaya

New Delhi: Days after the Supreme Court Collegium declined her request for reconsideration of transfer to Meghalaya, Madras High Court Chief Justice Vijaya K Tahilramani has resigned. She tendered her resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind and sent a copy of it to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi last night, official sources said on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_5603861” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Madras High Court. Wikimedia Commons[/caption] The collegium, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, had recommended transfer of Justice Tahilramani, who was elevated as the Madras High Court’s chief justice on 8 August last year, to the Meghalaya High Court. The collegium had recommended her transfer on 28 August, after which she had made a representation requesting it to reconsider the proposal. She had protested against the collegium’s decision to not consider her request against transferring her to the Meghalaya High Court. The apex court collegium—comprising justices SA Bobde, NV Ramana, Arun Mishra and RF Nariman—had recommended that Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice AK Mittal be transferred to the Madras High Court. Justice Tahilramani was appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court on 26 June, 2001. While holding office as the acting chief justice of the Bombay High Court, she had in May 2017 upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of 11 people in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case, which was transferred to Maharashtra from Gujarat by the top court. Justice Tahilramani was to retire on 2 October, 2020.