Notable Interventions Of Madras HC Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee, Now Proposed To Be Transferred To Meghalaya HC

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the transfer of Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee to the Meghalaya High Court. The recommendation, which was made in the Collegium meeting held on September 16, was published only on November 9.Chief Justice Banerjee who hails from the Calcutta High Court was appointed as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court on January 4, 2021. He is due to retire from service on November 1, 2023.Justice Banerjee's brief tenure as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court has been very eventful and in some instances even controversial. He is known to mince no words and has repeatedly admonished public authorities on account of their failure to carry out duties. Justice Banerjee back in April had made scathing observations against the Election Commission of India for allowing political rallies to take place even as the country was battling a deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. He had remarked that the Commission is 'singularly responsible' for the second wave and had even went on to observe that the 'Election Commission officers should be booked on murder charges probably". Chief Justice Banerjee has made several scathing criticisms against the Central Government in cases pertaining to Covid-19 management, vaccine procurement, oxygen distribution etc during the peak of the COVID second wave. It was his order which paved the way for Centre introducing OBC reservation in NEET-AIQ. Significantly, he had passed an interim order stipulating that the oversight mechanism envisaged in the IT Rules, 2021 to control the media by the government 'may rob the media of its independence' thereby posing a threat to democracy. In another pertinent order, the Chief Justice had observed that the Puducherry unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had misused Aadhaar details of voters for election campaigning purposes. The transfer of Justice Banerjee to Meghalaya High Court (a smaller HC with 4 sanctioned posts of judges as against Madras HC's sanctioned strength of 75 judges) has raised eyebrows, as the reasons are not revealed. In this backdrop, there is a widespread doubt if the transfer is "punitive". The delayed publication of the collegium resolution has also added to the mystery.It is hard to miss the similarities with the 2019 episode relating to the transfer of the then Chief Justice of Madras High Court VK Tahilramani to Meghalaya High Court. Without accepting the transfer, Justice Tahilramani had tendered resignation.Also Read : Transfer of Judges : A Study In Arbitrariness Here is a detailed discussion of some of the notable orders passed by Justice Banerjee.Criticism against Election Commission Election Commission Singularly Responsible For COVID Second Wave; Officers Should Probably Be Booked For MurderChief Justice Banerjee known for not mincing any words had come down heavily on the Election Commission of India (ECI) back in April 2021 for permitting election rallies to take place amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. During the proceedings, a visibly upset Chief Justice had told the Election Commission's counsel "Your institution is singularly responsible for the second wave of COVID-19". He went to further orally remark, "Your officers should be booked on murder charges probably". The Bench comprising Chief Justice Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy had observed that the Commission had failed to enforce COVID norms regarding wearing of facemasks, use of sanitizers and maintaining social distancing during election campaigning, despite court orders. Addressing the counsel for the Election Commission, the Chief Justice had further remarked, "Were you on another planet when the election rallies were held?" "Public health is of paramount importance and it is distressing that constitutional authorities have to be reminded in such regard. It is only when a citizen survives that he'll be able to enjoy the rights that a democratic republic guarantees", the Chief Justice had added further. Accordingly, the Bench had directed the Election Commission of India and the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer to hold consultations with the Health Secretary and come up with a plan on following COVID-19 protocol on the counting day.Expressing strong reservations against such remarks, the Election Commission had subsequently moved a petition before the Supreme Court seeking directions to restrain the media from reporting oral remarks of judges. However, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain such a plea after recognizing that the freedom of speech and expression extends to reporting of judicial proceedings. "The remarks of the High Court were harsh. The metaphor inappropriate. The High Court-if indeed it did make the oral observations which have been alluded to -did not seek to attribute culpability for the COVID-19 pandemic in the country to the EC. What instead it would have intended to do was to urge the EC to ensure stricter compliance of COVID-19 related...

Notable Interventions Of Madras HC Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee, Now Proposed To Be Transferred To Meghalaya HC

Aaratrika Bhaumik

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