After an hour-long deliberation, the five-member collegium unanimously decided that Justice Joseph's name should be accompanied with the recommendation of names of other Chief Justices of high courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court.
Refuting Justice Chelameswar's charge, the functionaries, who requested anonymity, said the law ministry had twice returned the file relating to the elevation of principal district judge P K Bhat because the collegium did not comply with the Vishakha guidelines.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has recommended the impeachment of Allahabad High Court judge Yashwant Varma following an investigation into a cash discovery incident at his residence. The recommendation follows a report by a Supreme Court-appointed committee that confirmed allegations of cash discovery against Justice Varma. The CJI's recommendation is based on the established in-house procedure for dealing with allegations against judges of constitutional courts.
Rijiju also said the Centre respects judiciary as its independence is "absolutely necessary" for a thriving democracy.
'The collegium system will remove any such doubts from the minds of people and the political parties.'
'Justice K M Joseph is the senior-most chief justice of all the high courts in India.' 'The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended Justice Joseph's name to be elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.' 'Despite these facts, the Government of India is not taking appropriate, speedy action, to forward the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation to the President for Justice Joseph's appointment.'
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.
Justices N Kotiswar Singh and R Mahadevan were on Tuesday elevated as judges of the Supreme Court.
Displaying earnest, government will seek the views of jurists and former judges on the proposed Judicial Appointments Commission bill it plans to bring in Parliament to replace the present collegium system where judges appoint judges.
The Supreme Court, which had on February 7 refused to entertain two pleas seeking to restrain Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri from taking oath as an additional judge of the Madras high court, on Friday pronounced the reasons for the dismissal of the petitions.
'Presumption of innocence must guide all formal actions, but transparency must not be mistaken for pre-judgment.' 'The cruel irony, however, is that Justice Varma is a fine judge who enjoys a reputation for writing well-reasoned judgments.'
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.
The five-member Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, said that there was 'nothing adverse' regarding suitability of Justice Joseph.
Delhi high court judge Justice S Muralidhar was on Wednesday transferred to the Punjab and Haryana high court. A government notification about the transfer was issued on Wednesday which said that after consultation with Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday transferred Justice S Muralidhar, judge of the Delhi high court, as judge of Punjab and Haryana high court. The notification further said the President has directed Muralidhar to assume charge of his office in Punjab and Haryana high court.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said there was no bar on the collegium to go ahead with its work to appoint judges for the higher judiciary, which is plagued with large-scale vacancies.
In an unprecedented development, the Supreme Court Collegium has made public the names of the two judges on the panel who objected to the method of 'circulation' adopted for eliciting the views of its members on the appointment of judges to the apex court.
The collegium has recommended to the Centre to appoint justices N H Patil and D K Gupta as the chief justices of the Bombay and Calcutta high court.
Justice Bobde, 63, also rued the criticism of judges on social media for their judicial actions and said most of the judges, who are not "thick skinned", get perturbed.
In an unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of three women judges for appointment in the apex court which, if cleared, would give the country its first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the form of Justice B V Nagarathna on February 10, 2027.
Last month, the Supreme Court collegium had withdrawn its approval to a proposal for the appointment of additional judge, Justice Ganediwala as a permanent judge of the court following her two controversial verdicts.
In a first, the Supreme Court Collegium had last week recommended for appointment to the apex court three women judges, including Justice B V Nagarathna who will be in line to be the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in September 2027 if she gets the final nod.
There is a need to think about the collegium system so that appointments in higher judiciary can be accelerated," Rijiju said.
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.
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.
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.
'There is one negative thing which has happened very quietly. The position of the election commissioner has been downgraded.'
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.
Karnataka high court Chief Justice P B Varale was on Thursday administered the oath of office as a Supreme Court judge by Chief Justice of India Justice D Y Chandrachud in New Delhi.
The appointments were announced by new Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Twitter.
CJI Chandrachud met the delegations in the presence of two other members of the collegium -- Justice SK Kaul and Justice MR Shah.
'As per the provisions under the Constitution of India, Hon'ble President of India has appointed the following Chief Justices of High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court. My best to them: Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice, Allahabad HC and Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice, Gujarat HC,' Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted.
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.
Allahabad High Court judge Justice Shekhar Yadav, who was embroiled in controversy for his speech at a VHP event in December, has opted out of a seminar on the Ram temple movement in the Kumbh Mela area on January 22. Yadav was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the seminar, which is being held to mark the first anniversary of the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla in the Ayodhya temple.
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.
Her resignation has been accepted with effect from September 6, it said.
Opposing the transfer of Madras high court Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee to Meghalaya, over 200 advocates of the Madras high court have signed a representation to the Chief Justice of India, N V Ramana and the Supreme Court collegium, seeking to reconsider the decision to shift CJ Banerjee.
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.
The SC collegium had in 2016 recommended names of Harnaresh Singh Gill and Mohammed Nizamuddin for appointment as judges of the Punjab and Haryana high court and the Calcutta high court respectively.
The Supreme Court on Monday flagged the issue of "pick and choose" by the Centre in clearing the collegium's recommendations for transferring high court judges and said this does not send a good signal.
A row erupted after the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi-headed five-judge Collegium in a fresh resolution on January 10 recommended the elevation of Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Sanjiv Khanna to the Supreme Court bypassing the seniority of several judges.
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