After rap, Centre sends 70 names to Supreme Court Collegium for judges' appointment

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, October 9

After sitting on the recommendations made by collegiums of various high courts for appointment of judges for 11 months, the Centre has “suddenly” forwarded all 70 pending proposals to the CJI-led top court Collegium in the last few days, the Supreme Court said on Monday.

Notification on new Manipur HC CJ soon

• Delhi HC judge Siddharth Mridul’s appointment as CJ of Manipur HC will be notified soon, AG tells SC Bench
• SC Collegium had recommended his name for appointment as CJ of Manipur HC on July 5
• SC had on Sept 26 pointed finger at Centre for sitting on 70 recommendations for appointment and transfer of HC judges

“Seventy names pending before the Ministry (of Law and Justice) starting from November 2022 have now suddenly landed before the Collegium… From tomorrow onwards, we will start processing the names because we can’t suddenly process 70 names on one fine day because the consultee judges’ views have to be taken… We will try to finish it before the October vacation,” a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.

Attorney General R Venkataramani told the Bench Delhi High Court judge Siddharth Mridul’s appointment as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court would be notified soon.

The Supreme Court Collegium led by CJI DY Chandrachud had recommended his name for appointment as the CJ of the Manipur HC on July 5, saying he was “fit and suitable in all respects for being appointed…” “Appointment of Chief Justice to the high court of a sensitive state has finally received their attention and they are doing it now,” Justice Kaul commented. Transfer files of 14 HC judges have also been cleared and the remaining 12 are under process, Venkataramani told the Bench, adding five of the 19 names — either proposed for the first time or reiterated by the SC — had been cleared.

Terming it a “positive development”, Justice Kaul complimented AG Venkataramani at the very outset of the proceedings. However, it said it would not be correct to say the recommendations were pending with the Collegium as these had been received only in the past few days.

“Since you’re normally on the receiving end, some compliments for what has been done (by the government)… I compliment the AG first, because names have been sent to us,” Justice Kaul told Venkataramani.

The Bench, however, wondered: “Why does it require the court’s intervention to get things moving?” The court posted the matter for further hearing on October 20.

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