Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov 11: On a petition about the holdup in approving the names recommended by the Collegium for appointment as judges, the Supreme Court on Friday gave notice to the Union Law Secretary.
A bench made up of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay Sreeniwas Oka strongly criticised the Centre for withholding the names that had been authorised by the Collegium while deliberating the case.
The Advocates Association Bengaluru had petitioned the court for contempt in 2021 for the Centre’s refusal to approve 11 names that had been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court collegium.
The Association argued that the Center’s actions constitute a flagrant disregard for the Supreme Court’s directives in the case of PLR Projects Ltd v. Mahanadi Coalfields Pvt Ltd, which required the Centre to clear names repeated by the Collegium within 3 or 4 weeks.
The bench noted that the Centre has left the files open in the cases of 11 names that the collegium has reaffirmed, without approving them or returning them with reservations. The bench deemed this practise of withholding permission to be “inappropriate.”
“There are 11 cases pending with the government which were cleared by the collegium but are awaiting appointments…. This implies that the government neither appoints the names nor communicates its reservations if any”, the bench observed in the order.
The bench stated that delay in clearing the names can lead to the recommended persons withdrawing their consent for judgeship and this can deprive the system of eminent persons
“Keeping names on hold is not acceptable. It is becoming some sort of a device to compel these persons to withdraw their consent as has happened”, the bench noted in the order.
