President Kovind approves transfer of Madras HC CJ Sanjib Banerjee to Meghalaya

President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation to transfer Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee to the Meghalaya High Court, notwithstanding calls for a reconsideration of the proposal by the apex court panel from various quarters.

"In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 222 of the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to transfer Shri Justice Sanjib Banerjee, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court, a notification by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice said on Monday.

The notification further said President Kovind has directed Justice Banerjee to assume the office of Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court. The SC Collegium had in its September 16 meeting recommended the transfer of Justice Banerjee from a chartered High Court with a sanctioned strength of 75 judges to a High Court whose current strength is just two, but the decision was made public only on November 9.

Read | CJ transfer out of Madras High Court snowballs into controversy

Justice Banerjee is 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 K Tahilramani resigned in protest after she was transferred to Meghalaya.

Justice Banerjee’s transfer within 10 months of his assuming office triggered a massive debate with senior counsels and the Madras Bar Association taking objection to the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation and asking for its reconsideration.

The lawyers and the Bar told the Collegium that the “constant transfers and postings have left the Madras High Court in a state of constant flux.”

“Such short-lived tenures at the apex of the Court's hierarchy in a State bodes ill for the health of the institution and the justice delivery system. This is so not only for the High Court but any institution more so the High Court, given the significant role it plays in preserving constitutional safeguards,” 31 senior counsels wrote in their representation to the Collegium.

At an emergency meeting convened on Sunday, the Madras Bar Association had expressed its deep concern at the “opaqueness” surrounding the transfers of Justice Banerjee and Justice T S Sivagnanam to the Calcutta High Court.

"The transfers are perceived to be in violation of the Memorandum of Procedure for transfer. Such transfers are perceived to be punitive and do not augur well for the independence of the judiciary,” the association had said.

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