God does not forgive nor forget: 'I was transferred with ill intention'- MP HC judge at farewell
Indore, May 20 (PTI): "God does not forgive nor forget," were the words echoed with profound bitterness by Justice Duppala Venkata Ramana, a Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, as he prepared to demit office on Tuesday.
What is traditionally a moment of reflection and gratitude turned into a critique of a system that, in his eyes, had inflicted deep and unwarranted personal hardship.
"It was a remarkable period of my life," Justice Ramana began, his voice steady, yet laden with pain.
"I was transferred from the Andhra Pradesh High Court to the Madhya Pradesh High Court without any explanation.
"I was asked for options. I opted for the state of Karnataka, so that my wife could receive better treatment," he said, referring to his wife's battle with PNES (Paroxysmal Non-Epileptic Seizures) and severe brain complications following the COVID-19 pandemic.
But his plea—a husband’s earnest request born from compassion—fell on deaf ears.
The Supreme Court, he said, disregarded his choice, and what followed was a relentless and ultimately futile struggle for a compassionate hearing.
He had submitted formal representations to the Supreme Court on July 19, 2024, and again on August 28, 2024, reiterating the severity of his wife’s medical condition.
"But the representation was neither considered nor rejected," he lamented.
Another appeal during the tenure of the previous Chief Justice also went unanswered.
"I received no response. A judge like me expects at least a humane consideration. I was disheartened and deeply pained," he added.
He acknowledged that current Chief Justice B R Gavai might have been more sympathetic—but it came "too late in the day as I am demitting office."
Justice Ramana expressed his belief that the transfer was executed with "ill intention to harass me."
"Anyway, my transfer order seems to have been issued with ill-intention and to harass me. I suffered as I was transferred from my home state for obvious reasons," he stated, a veiled reference to unseen forces.
"I am happy to satisfy their ego. Now they are retired. God does not forgive nor forget. They will also suffer in another mode," he added.
Despite the bitterness, his speech was not without dignity and resilience.
A first-generation lawyer, Justice Ramana reflected on his life: "I bore witness to the resilience of human existence, the power of human struggle, dignity in poverty, and most importantly, unshakable hope and faith."
"These ordinary, everyday experiences" taught him that "except hard work, there is no shortcut to success".
His career, he acknowledged, was marked by "struggles and bitter experiences" that eventually led him to "diversify my activities."
From the moment he joined the judicial service, he was subjected to "conspiratorial scrutiny."
"My family has suffered in silence,” he shared, "But ultimately, the truth will always prevail."
He invoked the words of Martin Luther King Jr.: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Justice Ramana stressed that every achievement in his life came after enduring setbacks and hardships.
He embraced these challenges, believing that "every failure carries a seed of equivalent advantage."
"I never claimed to be a scholarly judge or a great judge. But I always believed that the ultimate purpose of the justice delivery system is to provide justice to the common man".
नंबर सबका आएगा 😎
— सनातनी हिन्दू राकेश (मोदी का परिवार) (@Modified_Hindu9) May 20, 2025
"उन्हें भुगतना पड़ेगा": जस्टिस डीवी रमना ने दावा किया कि आंध्र से MP हाई कोर्ट में ट्रांसफर उत्पीड़न था#MadhyaPradeshHighCourt #AndhraPradeshHighCourt #JudgesTransfer #BarandBench pic.twitter.com/hHS4EaPlnk
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Judge issues temporary injunction against Trump administration cancellation of humanities grants
Washington (AP): A district court judge in New York issued a preliminary injunction Friday night stopping the mass cancellation of National Endowment for the Humanities grants to members of the Authors Guild on the grounds that their First Amendment rights were violated.
Judge Colleen McMahon of the US District Court in the Southern District of New York stayed the mass cancellations of grants previously awarded to guild members and ordered that any funds associated with the grants not be reobligated until a trial on the merits of the case is held.
In reaching her decision, the judge said the “defendants terminated the grants based on the recipients' perceived viewpoint, in an effort to drive such views out of the marketplace of ideas. This is most evident by the citation in the Termination Notices to executive orders purporting to combat Radical Indoctrination' and Radical … DEI Programs,' and to further Biological Truth.'”
One of the grants was to a professor writing a book on the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s and 1980s. On a spreadsheet entitled “Copy of NEH Active Grants,” the government flagged the work as being connected to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, McMahon wrote.
The judge said several other history projects on the spreadsheet were also canceled in part because of their connection to DEI-related subjects.
“Far be it from this Court to deny the right of the Administration to focus NEH priorities on American history and exceptionalism as the year of our semiquincentennial approaches,” McMahon said. “Such refocusing is ordinarily a matter of agency discretion. But agency discretion does not include discretion to violate the First Amendment. Nor does not give the Government the right to edit history.“
McMahon said some of the grantees lost grants simply because they had received them during the Biden administration.
The Guild filed a class action lawsuit in May against the NEH and the Department of Government Efficiency for terminating grants that had already been appropriated by Congress.
The humanities groups' lawsuit said DOGE brought the core work of the humanities councils “to a screeching halt” this spring when it terminated its grant program.
The lawsuit was among several filed by humanities groups and historical, research and library associations to try to stop funding cuts and the dissolution of federal agencies and organizations.
McMahon noted her injunction is narrowly tailored “to maintain the status quo until we can decide whether Plaintiffs are entitled to ultimate relief. It does nothing more.”
The judge denied a temporary injunction request from the American Council of Learned Societies, as well as several of their claims in the lawsuit. Their case included the American Historical Association and the Modern Language Association.
