From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, March 30: The legal fraternity made a hue and cry when Sanjib Banerjee, the Chief Justice of Madras High Court was transferred to the much smaller High Court of Meghalaya.
But Justice VM Velumani, transferred from the Madras High Court to the Calcutta High Court recently has requested to be sent to any state in the Northeast. The reason: a Northeast posting allows her to retain her official accommodation in Chennai.
Prior to such rare judicial controversies, Justice Vijaya K. Tahilramani resigned after the Supreme Court Collegium declined her request for reconsideration of transfer from the Madras High Court to Meghalaya in 2019, even though she was elevated to the post of Chief Justice.
She had tendered her resignation to former President Ram Nath Kovind and sent a copy of it to the then Chief Justice of India, the Assam-born Ranjan Gogoi who is now a Rajya Sabha member.
The Collegium neither paid heed to the lawyers’ demand then nor has acceded to Justice Velumani’s request now. The Collegium on March 28 reiterated its previous recommendation of transferring Justice Velumani to the Calcutta High Court.
Two major lawyers’ bodies — the Madras High Court Advocates’ Association and the Madras Bar Association — had passed resolutions against the transfer of Chief Justice Banerjee to Meghalaya. More than 30 senior advocates of the Madras High Court were among the protestors.
But protesting and finally resigning on grounds of posting in the Northeast is not limited to the legal fraternity alone. Even Governors and all-India level officers have protested and quit jobs after being posted in the region.
In 2014, Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan resigned following his transfer to Mizoram. He was quoted by the media terming the transfer as disgraceful.
A 2011-batch IAS officer, Kashish Mittal resigned because he was transferred from NITI Aayog to Arunachal Pradesh.
Many officers perceive the Northeast as a region for punishment posting or as a dumping ground for anyone not in the good books of those in power. “It is sad that the perception continues even after 75 years of independence and the Northeast changing for the better with hardly any militancy now,” an officer from the Northeast said.
There have been exceptions. Some officers like the late supercop KPS Gill took up their assignments as a challenge to improve the quality of governance and prove a point.