A judge at the Madras High Court has expressed displeasure about the seating arrangement at Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony of new Chief Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani, The Indian Express reported.
Justice MS Ramesh said the judges were made to sit behind ministers and police officers. Some other judges also asked whether it was a “deliberate act” by officials at the Raj Bhavan, reported The New Indian Express.
Soon after the ceremony, Ramesh wrote on a WhatsApp group of judges that he was dismayed at the “incautious protocol” for the High Court judges, The Indian Express reported . “It was not only a disappointment but an issue of serious concern,” he said.
Ramesh asked whether the Raj Bhavan was “unaware of the hierarchy between the constitutional dignitaries and the police officers”. “Being an official function, there cannot be a second opinion that the protocol to be extended was for the post and not the individual,” he was quoted as saying.
Ramesh claimed that Raj Bhavan officials had denied the High Court registrar’s request to oversee the seating arrangements. The judges were also pushed out of their “legitimate seats” at another event in Madurai earlier this year, he alleged. After he sent the message, many other judges spoke to him and shared his concern, unidentified officials in the High Court told The Indian Express.
R Rajagopal, the secretary to Governor Banwarilal Purohit, told the newspaper: “I haven’t seen this judge’s complaint. I will comment later.” Advocate General Vijay Narayan said the huge turnout of guests from Maharashtra may have led to the confusion. The new chief justice belongs to Maharashtra.
“There were some 30 judges from Maharashtra and lots of relatives of the new chief justice,” Narayan said. “As per precedent, those judges from other states and relatives are given preferential treatment. But it is true that today, there were no reserved seats with names of VIPs. And the Durbar Hall in the Raj Bhavan is relatively small too, it can hardly accommodate 150 people.”
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