Justice M N Bhandari sworn-in as CJ of Madras HC

Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari was on Monday sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, one of the oldest judicial institutions in the country. Governor R N Ravi administered the oath of office to Justice Bhandari at a simple ceremony in Raj Bhavan on Monday morning.

Justice Bhandari, who was the Acting CJ of the High Court, was appointed as the Chief Justice by President Ram Nath Kovind who accepted the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium which proposed his name at two meetings held on December 12, 2021, and January 29, 2022.

Chief Minister M K Stalin and his cabinet colleagues attended the swearing-in of Justice Bhandari who will be the Chief Justice of the High Court till September 2022.

After his transfer in November 2021, Justice Bhandari was functioning as the additional CJ of the Madras High Court in his capacity as the senior-most judge following the transfer of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee to Meghalaya High Court.

Justice Bhandari, who was appointed as judge of the High Court of Rajasthan High Court in July 2007, was transferred to the Allahabad High Court in March 2019.

After the swearing-in, Stalin presented Justice Bhandari with a book on Keeladi, an ancient Tamil urban settlement on the banks of River Vaigai which is at least 2,600 years belonging to the Sangam Era.

Justice Bhandari’s transfer to the Madras High Court in November came after Justice Banerjee’s transfer to Meghalaya, which was mired in controversy after many lawyers took objection to the move.

“The reasons for the transfer of any judge should be made transparent in the public interest, for the public ought to know if a judge is being victimised for his fearless actions or is being punished for his inconvenient actions,” a petition signed by 237 lawyers of the Madras High Court had read.

Justice Banerjee was the second CJ of the Madras High Court to have been recommended for a transfer to Meghalaya in two years. In 2019, the then CJ V L Tahilramani resigned in protest after she was transferred to Meghalaya.

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