The Supreme Court Monday said the appointment of the chief justice of Manipur high court has finally received the Centre's attention and will be notified "shortly", over three months after the apex court collegium had recommended Delhi high court judge Siddharth Mridul for the post.
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.
The government has returned twice to the Supreme Court collegium a recommendation made by it.
Several top jurists on Monday pushed for scrapping the existing collegium system where judges appoint judges but government's plans to bring a bill to make the process of appointments more transparent may take some more time.
The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday the verdict on bringing transparency in the collegium system of appointing judges in higher judiciary.
Out of 77 names recommended by collegium to the government, 34 have been cleared for appointment as high court judges.
The five-member Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, said that there was 'nothing adverse' regarding suitability of Justice Joseph.
The resolution of the May 16 collegium meeting stated that there was need for deliberation on bringing the judges from the high courts, which are not represented, to the Supreme Court.
Justice J Chelameswar, a senior judge of the SC and a member of the five-member collegium, has written to the CJI seeking transparency in the appointment of higher judiciary judges.
The government issued a public notice inviting suggestions from the common man on ways to improve the collegium system to appoint judges to the Supreme Court and the high courts.
The Centre expressed its inability before the SC in formulating the draft Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges.
The Supreme Court collegium has decided to drop its recommendation for elevating Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, facing charges of land grabbing, to the apex court, bringing to end months of controversy over the move. The collegium led by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and including Justice S H Kapadia, Tarun Chatterjee, Altamas Kabir and R V Raveendran, met on Thursday evening and decided to take back the recommendation for his elevation.
Justice Chandrachud also dealt with questions about criticism by eminent lawyers on the allocation of cases to particular judges and 'bench hunting', and said the allocation of cases is not "lawyer-driven" and vowed to maintain the credibility of the institution of the Supreme Court.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the collegium system, which became re-operational with Friday's Supreme Court verdict, is not found in the Constitution.
Senior judges have developed a cushy arrangement among themselves: you back the appointment of so-and-so advocate's junior, and I will back so-and-so judge's nephew, says Subir Roy
The Supreme Court on Wednesday came out with a slew of guidelines to improve the collegium system of appointment of judges in the higher judiciary to make it more transparent and accountable by asking the Centre to finalise a memorandum of procedure in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.
'There is one weapon in the government's armoury which impacts the independence of the judiciary, and which has not been affected by the collegium system.' 'It is post-retirement employment with the government. 'This is because some judges -- but not all -- are offered post-retirement employment by the government, and it has often been feared that judges close to retirement might decide cases so as to please the government in order to get a favourable post-retirement position,' says Abhinav Chandrachud.
Defending the collegium's decision to appoint advocate Lekshmana Chandra Victoria Gowri appointment as a judge of the Madras high court, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has said one should not be "cold calling" individuals merely for views they may have held as lawyers.
The decision was taken on October 3.
The collegium system of appointment of judges is likely to stay for the time being as Parliament could not pass a constitutional amendment bill in the last session of the Lok Sabha to put in place a new mechanism giving the Executive a say in the matter.
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.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled out making "wholesale changes" in the collegium system of appointment of judges for higher judciary.
Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Monday said the Supreme Court collegium made a mistake in recommending the name of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran for appointment to the apex court and maintained that any judge found to have trespassed any land is not fit to be elevated.
Notwithstanding reservations of judiciary, Parliament on Thursday took cleared two bills providing for a new mechanism for appointment of judges to higher judiciary by scrapping the collegium system that had come under attack from political parties and others.
The top court, which was hearing a matter relating to an alleged delay by the Centre in clearing the names recommended by the collegium for appointment as judges to constitutional courts, has posted the matter for further hearing on February 3.
"The government has cleared seven names out of the 106 judges and one out of the nine for chief justices, so far. I expect that the government will clear the rest of the names very soon. These appointments will take care of pendency to some extent. I seek the cooperation and support of the Government to enable access to justice and to strengthen democracy," CJI N V Ramana said.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tenure comes to an end, it is time for him to introspect the damage he has done to various institutions, says Arun Jaitley
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 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.
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.
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.
Keen to scrap the collegium system, government on Monday introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha to establish a six-member body for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the high courts.
What is the independence of the judiciary if independent and fearless judges are not being appointed, SC judge Rohinton Fali Nariman said.
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