New Delhi: Justice Nisha Banu of the Madras High Court is set to be sworn in as a judge of the Kerala High Court on 19 December. The development comes five days after President Droupadi Murmu formally directed Justice Banu to comply with her transfer and assume charge within a stipulated time frame.
The development was confirmed by the Kerala HC uploading a scheduled upcoming YouTube livestream link for her swearing-in ceremony for 9:30 am, 19 December.
The controversy arose after the Centre notified Justice Banu’s transfer from the Madras HC to Kerala HC nearly two months ago. However, she did not immediately assume charge and was on earned leave from the Madras HC ever since the transfer was approved.
Subsequently, President Murmu issued a directive asking Justice Banu to assume charge at the Kerala HC on or before 20 December. The directive was issued through a notification dated 12 December, following consultation with Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant.
The development took place against the backdrop of Justice Banu being on leave and seeking an extension till 20 December. Following this request, the CJI wrote to the President, which led to the issuance of the directive.
Justice Banu’s leave application was forwarded to the CJI’s office by the Tamil Nadu Governor’s office. “It was then that the CJI learnt about Justice Banu not adhering to the transfer order,” a source in the Supreme Court told ThePrint. Following this, the CJI wrote to the President while accepting the judge’s leave request, urging that a fixed timeframe be prescribed for her to assume charge at the Kerala HC.
Responding to media reports, Justice Banu had told The Hindu last month that she applied for earned leave at the Madras HC in view of her son’s wedding, and had simultaneously sought reconsideration of her transfer.
However, the delay in her joining has reportedly caused unease within sections of the Kerala High Court Bar Association.
Earlier, nearly 50 lawyers of the Madras HC wrote to President Murmu, alleging that Justice Banu was intentionally delaying taking the oath as a judge of the Kerala HC in order to continue as a member of the Madras HC Collegium. The letter alleged judicial indiscipline in connection with the delay.
The issue further escalated after the Tamil Nadu government returned the Madras HC Collegium’s recommendation dated 9 November, proposing the elevation of six district judges as high court judges. While it did not raise objections to the suitability of any of the recommended candidates, it sought clarification on the constitution of the Collegium itself. The clarification was sought on the grounds of the non-inclusion of Justice Banu and the inclusion of Justice M.S. Ramesh, the next senior-most judge.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)