Lawyers protesting against the transfer of Madras High Court Chief Justice V.K. Tahilramani, outside the Combined Court Complex in the city on Tuesday.
Lawyers protest against Chief Justice Tahilramani’s transfer
More than 3,000 lawyers practising in Coimbatore boycotted court proceedings on Tuesday, condemning the transfer of Chief Justice V.K. Tahilramani to Meghalaya High Court by the Supreme Court collegium.
Nearly 50 lawyers staged a demonstration in front of the Combined Court Complex raising slogans against the proposed transfer and carried placards condemning the “vengeful actions” of the Supreme Court collegium.
Addressing the mediapersons, lawyer S. Balamurugan urged the collegium to be “free from bias” when making recommendations for appointment of Supreme Court judges. He said this in connection with the elevation of Chief Justice V. Ramasubramanian from the Himachal Pradesh High Court to the Supreme Court, superseding the senior Chief Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar from Manipur High Court. “This will set a bad precedent,” Mr. Balamurugan said.
Lawyer C. Venmani alleged that the transfer had exposed the interference of the Central government with the Judiciary.
The protest was organised on behalf of the Advocates Joint Action Committee (JAC), Mr. Balamurugan said, adding that more than one lakh lawyers across the State staged protests opposing the transfer.
Following the demonstration, the Coimbatore lawyers paid homage to Ram Jethmalani, eminent jurist and former Union Minister, who passed away in New Delhi on Sunday at the age of 95. The lawyers paid floral tributes to a banner bearing his image outside the Combined Court Complex.