No Offence Found Against Ex-Judge Tahilramani : CBI Says On Reference Made By Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday was informed that the Central Bureau of Investigation's scrutiny of the allegations of impropriety, corruption and political bias against a former chief justice of the Madras High Court, Justice V.K. Tahilramani, did not reveal the commission of any cognizable offence. In 2019, the then-Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi had directed the central agency to take action against her 'in accordance with the law' on the strength of a five-page report by the Intelligence Bureau flagging Justice Tahilramani's allegedly illegal acquisition of property in Chennai, the decision to dissolve a special bench dealing with idol theft cases, and her alleged close ties with a Tamil Nadu minister.The report had followed closely on the heels of the judge tendering her resignation in protest against a decision of the Supreme Court collegium to transfer her as the chief justice of the Meghalaya High Court 'in the interests of better administration of justice'. Although routine transfers of high court judges and chief justices are not uncommon, the decision to remove Justice Tahilramani from the senior-most post at one of the largest high courts and send her instead to helm one of the smallest high courts, at a time when she enjoyed seniority among all high court judges, caused a huge uproar, with a section of advocates claiming that it was a machination to harass and humiliate her. In an unprecedented move, the top court came out with a statement in response to the criticism which said, "Though it would not be in the interest of the institution to disclose the reasons for transfer, if found necessary. the collegium will have no hesitation in disclosing the same." In his memoir, 'Justice for the Judge', Justice Gogoi also admitted that on cross-verification, some truth was found in the complaints against the former chief justice of the Madras High Court, including her 'irregular and infrequent sittings in court' and questionable exercise of administrative power. However, three years after the controversy, it has now come to light, in the answer to an unstarred question by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislator, A.K.P. Chinraj, that although the central agency had received a reference on September 29, 2019 from the Secretary-General of the top court, on verification, it was found by the Central Bureau of Investigation "that the reference did not disclose commission of a cognizable offence and accordingly, no offence [was] registered"."CBI had received a reference dated 26.09.2019 from Secretary General of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. CBI, on verification, found that the reference did not disclose commission of a cognizable offence and accordingly, no offence has been registered", stated the reply given by Dr.Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension.Significantly, during her tenure at the Bombay High Court, Justice Tahilramani headed the bench that upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of the 11 accused in the brutal sexual assault of pregnant 19-year-old Bilkis Bano during the post-Godhra riots, who have now been granted premature release by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Gujarat government. During her judicial career, Justice Tahilramani was also a part of other benches that delivered notable judgements.

No Offence Found Against Ex-Judge Tahilramani : CBI Says On Reference Made By Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi

Awstika Das

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