In a recent report, the Department-related Standing Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel said it expects the government and the judiciary to finalise the revised MoP, 'which is more efficient and transparent', in terms of a Supreme Court observation.
With the appointment of the five judges, the total number of judges in the apex court has risen to 32, two short of the full strength.
A bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka also expressed displeasure over the delay in clearing recommendations for transfer of high court judges, calling it a 'very serious issue', and warned that any delay in this matter may result in both administrative and judicial actions which might not be palatable.
The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a batch of petitions challenging the 121st constitutional amendment by which collegium system for appointment of judges in higher judiciary was scrapped and a new mechanism under National Judicial Appointment Commission was proposed to be put in place.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted to announce the appointment of Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice, Rajasthan High Court; Justice Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice, Patna High Court; Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Chief Justice, Manipur High Court; Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah of Patna High Court; and Justice Manoj Misra of Allahabad High Court as apex court judges.
The CJI administered the oath of office to the two new judges in a swearing-in ceremony held at the apex court's auditorium in New Delhi.
He could have blazed a trail that few Indian judges had. It was a missed opportunity of a lifetime, notes Ramesh Menon.
The bench expressed displeasure over the delay by the Centre in clearing recommendations for transfer of high court judges, saying "it is a very, very serious issue".
A section of the Madras high court Bar Association has opposed the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation to elevate advocate Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri for judgeship at the Madras HC and demanded her recall.
Delhi high court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Rajasthan high court Chief Justice Augustine George Masih and Gauhati high court Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta were appointed as top court judges.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on Manipur high court judge Justice MV Muralidaran, saying despite being granted an opportunity he did not correct his judgment on grant of quota to the majority Meiteis in the strife-torn state.
What is the independence of the judiciary if independent and fearless judges are not being appointed, SC judge Rohinton Fali Nariman said.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud has agreed to meet the Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association on November 21 in view of the ongoing protest by lawyers opposing the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation to transfer Justice Nikhil S Kariel to Patna high court.
The Congress' attack comes after Law Minister Rijiju wrote to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud suggesting the inclusion of representatives from the Union and state governments in the Supreme Court and high court collegiums.
CJI Chandrachud met the delegations in the presence of two other members of the collegium -- Justice SK Kaul and Justice MR Shah.
I would say, unhappiness of the Government of the fact that NJAC does not pass the muster, Justice Kaul observed.
'Is the idea of a committed judiciary once again being floated, though surreptitiously, unlike in the past when it was direct?'
In his farewell speech, retiring Allahabad high court Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker has alleged that his transfer from Chhattisgarh high court in 2018 when the collegium was headed by then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was done to 'harass' him.
'The (Collegium system of appointing judges) is absolutely whimsical.'
A total of 11 advocates and two judicial officers were on Monday appointed as additional judges in the high courts of Allahabad, Karnataka and Madras.
The CJI's announcement made in the apex court assumes significance in the wake of Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju's statement in Rajya Sabha on Thursday in which he said there was a feeling among the people that long court vacations were not very convenient for justice seekers.
While the Supreme Court is seized of the matter related to the plea to restrain lawyer Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri from taking oath as a judge of the Madras high court, a senior advocate, who was among those who opposed her elevation said on Tuesday that they are waiting for the outcome of the proceedings in the apex court.
The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana has recommended to the Centre 15 names of judicial officers and advocates for appointment as judges in the high courts of Delhi, Patna, and Andhra Pradesh.
The Supreme Court on Monday reconsidered a plea for urgent hearing of a petition challenging the appointment of lawyer Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri as an additional judge of the Madras high court, and advanced the date of hearing to February 7 from February 10.
The government on Thursday said it has suggested to the Supreme Court that the search-cum-evaluation committee for the appointment of judges in the apex court and chief justices of high courts should consist of a representative nominated by the Centre.
"We have prepared a broad platform where we have assessed the top 50 judges of the country who would be considered for appointment to the Supreme Court of India. We have data on judgments and the quality of judgments. The idea is to make the process of appointment in the Supreme Court more transparent," the CJI said.
The NJAC Act, which sought to overturn the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges, was struck down by the top court in 2015.
The Department of Justice in the Union Law Ministry issued separate notifications announcing the appointment of acting chief justice of the Bombay high court Justice Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala as the chief justice of the Madras high court and Justice Ramesh Deokinandan Dhanuka as the chief justice of the Bombay high court.
Kiren Rijiju's exit from the coveted law ministry came in the midst of his frequent criticism of the judiciary, particularly on the system of appointment of judges to high courts and the Supreme Court.
In January, the Supreme Court Collegium had reiterated its November 11, 2021 recommendation for appointing Kirpal as a judge of the Delhi high court, rejecting the Centre's contention that though homosexuality stands decriminalised in India, same-sex marriage is still bereft of recognition.
a special bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai said they were 'not entertaining the writ petition' that sought to restrain Gowri from taking oath 'in view of the grave threat to the independence of the judiciary'.
A five-judge bench of the apex court chaired by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud sat on a holiday to address the dispute where a defiant judge overruled an order of a division bench that had quashed his direction for a CBI probe and asked the central agency to go ahead with the investigation.
The appointments were announced by new Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Twitter.
'If you were to say today that the government should appoint judges to the high courts and Supreme Court, then I think that even those few good judges that we are getting today we would not get them.'
'They might not have liked his judgments on IT rules, the Election Commission and Pondicherry.'
Justice Sonia Giridhar Gokani, senior-most judge of the Gujarat high court, was appointed its chief justice.
The appointments to the Supreme Court and the high courts cannot be speeded up unless both the Judiciary and the Executive agree to a new mechanism which affords both near-parity in decision-making, argues Virendra Kapoor.
Parliamentary sovereignty cannot be permitted to be diluted or compromised by the executive or the judiciary, he said in his strongest remarks yet against alleged judicial interference in the working of Parliament.
His legacy will endure through the countless lives he touched, the legal precedents he set, and the principles he upheld.
While the Supreme Court collegium has recently approved the proposal for Kirpal's elevation to the Delhi high court bench which was a matter of controversy due to his sexual orientation, the elevation would be subject to Centre's approval.
