Senior Bombay HC judge SC Dharmadhikari resigns over transfer outside state

While it is not yet clear whether his resignation has been accepted or not, Justice Dharmadhikari told lawyers that it was his last day in office and he would not be available from Feb 17.

Justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari, the second senior most judge of the Bombay High Court, has tendered his resignation saying that he does not want to be transferred out of Maharashtra due to his "personal and family" reasons.

Talking to reporters on Friday, Justice Dharmadhikari said he has resigned as he had been elevated as the Chief Justice of the high court of another state, although he did not want to leave Mumbai.

"I had to resign due to purely personal and family issues...I did not want to leave Mumbai and they were not ready to elevate me as the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court," Justice Dharmadhikari told reporters.

The judge said he sent his resignation to the President on Thursday evening.

While it is not yet clear whether his resignation has been accepted or not,Justice Dharmadhikari on Friday told the lawyers in court that it was his last day in office and he would not be available from February 17 (Monday).

Justice Dharmadhikari was due to retire after two years. "I have some personal responsibilities here in Mumbai, which is why I did not want to be transferred out of Maharashtra," the judge said.

In the morning, Justice Dharmadhikari told a lawyer, who had come to mention his petition seeking urgent hearing in his court that he has tendered his resignation.

"I have demitted office. Today is my last day," Justice Dharmadhikari had said in the court. Advocate Mathew Nedumpara had mentioned a petition seeking for the court to hear it next week.

"When the judge said he has resigned, I initially thought that he said that in a lighter vein...He is a very senior judge and his resignation comes as a shock," Nedumpara later said.

Justice Dharmadhikari was made judge of the Bombay High Court on November 14, 2003. He was due to retire in 2022. Born in a family of lawyer, Justice Dharmadhikari had enrolled as an advocate in 1983.