Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday criticized the Centre for delaying the appointment of judges whose names had been reiterated by the collegium, reminding the government that the collegium is not a “search committee.”
A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud directed the government to provide a list of candidates whose names had been reiterated but were still pending for clearance. According to judicial convention, the government is obligated to accept these reiterated recommendations made by the collegium, which consists of the five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice.
“The government must clarify what difficulties exist with the reiterated names. Submit a chart showing the status of these recommendations,” the CJI stated. The court emphasized that if the collegium only had the role of a search committee, the government might have discretion, but reiterated names should be processed promptly.
During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan suggested that a time limit be set for the government to act on reiterated recommendations, proposing that if no decision is made within a specified period, the recommendation should be deemed accepted.
Responding to the court’s concerns, Attorney General R Venkatramani was asked to submit the list of reiterated names still pending with the Centre. The CJI reiterated, “This is not about finding flaws in the system but about moving forward.”
The hearing was in response to a plea filed by advocate Harsh Vibhore Singhal, who requested that the court impose a fixed time limit for the government to notify appointments recommended by the collegium. Another plea was filed by the Jharkhand government, seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Centre for delaying the appointment of Justice MS Ramachandra Rao as Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Jharkhand, highlighted the delays in clearing appointments, citing the case of Justice BR Sarangi, who was recommended as Chief Justice of Jharkhand long before his eventual approval, which came just 15 days before his retirement.
Attorney General Venkatramani, while expressing doubts about the extent of the court’s intervention in the matter, was urged by the CJI to provide reasons for the pending appointments.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court collegium issued a resolution on the appointment of Chief Justices for various High Courts, modifying its earlier recommendations regarding Justices Suresh Kumar Kait (Delhi High Court), GS Sandhawalia (Punjab and Haryana High Court), and Tashi Rabstan (Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court).
