After Madras High Court Bar Association (MHCBA), Advocates’ Association of Bengaluru (AAB) has also written to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi seeking openness in the transfer of Judges.

The bar association said in a strongly-worded letter: “When judges of constitutional courts resign under mysterious circumstances, or their transfer or elevation as Chief Justice is altered, it shakes the confidence of the public in the judicial system and throws up several uncomfortable questions to those in the decision-making body of the higher judiciary.”

“The resignation of the Chief Justice is not a standalone event…one cannot lose sight of the fact that Justice Jayanth Patel of the Karnataka High Court had also resigned similarly,” the advocates alleged.

The letter comes up in the wake of resignation of Justice VK Tahilramani after she was transferred to Tripura High Court from Madras High Court and also Justice Akil Kureshi who was first recommended to Madhya Pradesh High Court but later on recommended to take over as Chief Justice of Tripura High Court.

“The Central government, for political consideration, was indisposed to Justice Qureshi’s appointment at Madhya Pradesh,” the AAB said.

—India Legal Bureau