MHAA writes CJI to withhold recommendation to transfer Madras HC ACJ

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court Advocates’ Association (MHAA) wrote to the Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud to stall the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium to transfer Madras High Court’s Acting Chief Justice T Raja to the High Court of Rajasthan.

“Media reports about the imminent transfer of the Acting Chief Justice Madras High Court, Justice T Raja, does not bode well for the judiciary and is seen as a disincentive for efficiency and judicial decency, ” MHAA president G Mohanakrishnan said in the letter.

He further recalled the career history of the ACJ stating that Justice Raja was appointed as additional judge of Madras High Court on March 31, 2009, and has been performing the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of Madras High Court as Acting Chief Justice from September 22 by maintaining highest decorum.

“During his 13-odd years as judge of this chartered high court, Justice Raja has delivered several thousand judgments and has earned a reputation as a people's judge who would render justice irrespective of who appears and argues before him. While so, the proposed sudden transfer, that too while he has just about six months of his illustrious career left, is definitely bad news for the judiciary in this part of the country, ” Mohanakrishnan added.

He further stated the MHAA lodges its strongest opposition to the proposed transfer, and calls upon the Supreme Court, the Collegium, and the Government of India to drop the proposal and let the Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court to continue in his present capacity till he attains superannuation.