Madras HC Chief Justice Vijaya K Tahilramani Submits Her Resignation; Stops Attending Court After Abrupt Transfer

Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani has resigned from office after she was transferred to the Meghalaya High Court, due to which she has stopped presiding over the Madras High Court.

Incidentally, Chief Justice Vijaya Tahilramani happens to be one of the senior most high court judges in the country and is also among the only two women judges who have headed high courts in recent times. The only other woman chief justice in the county today happens to be Chief Justice Gita Mittal of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

During her previous tenure at the Bombay High Court, Chief Justice Tahilramani had on May 7, 2017, upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of 11 people in the post-Gujarat riots Bilkis Bano gangrape case, while setting aside the acquittal of seven people, including policemen and doctors.

Later, the Bilkis Bano case was transferred to Maharashtra from Gujarat by the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Vijaya Tahilramani’s resignation came shortly after the Supreme Court Collegium decided to transfer her as chief justice of the Meghalaya High Court.

Earlier, Chief Justice Tahilramani had written to the Supreme Collegium requesting it to reconsider its proposal to transfer her to Meghalaya High Court, but the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi refused to accede to her request and stuck to its decision to transfer her to the Meghalaya High Court.

The abrupt proposal to transfer Chief Justice Tahilramani to the Meghalaya High Court has raised eyebrows, given that Chief Justice Tahilramani is currently the senior most judge among high court judges in the country.

Meanwhile, the Madras Bar Association met in Chennai to discuss the issue of Chief Justice Tahilramani's abrupt transfer and the Madras High Court Advocates Association had also called for a one-day boycott to register its protest.