What happens if a High Court judge does not comply with a transfer?

Justice J Nisha Banu of the Madras High Court, who was transferred to the Kerala High Court by a presidential order dated October 14, 2025, is yet to assume charge at her new posting. What lends the episode an unusual edge is that the President of India has since issued a reminder directing compliance, a rare intervention in the constitutional handling of judicial transfers.

 

The development has revived a fundamental question: What happens when a High Court judge does not comply with a transfer order issued by the President of India?

 

Under Article 222(1) of the Constitution, the President, in