SC collegium, law ministry spar over appointment of judges
Legal experts have cautioned the government against accepting one of the recommendations of the SC collegium for elevation to the apex court while keeping the other one on hold. While the Law Ministry wanted to appoint senior advocate Indu Malhotra, it wanted to keep on hold Uttarakhand HC Chief Justice KM Joseph. The experts cited former CJI RM Lodha's recommendations on a similar matter.
Who are the two judges?
The two names were recommended together by SC collegium in January for elevation. In April 2016, Justice Joseph had set aside the imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand. The government feels that while recommending his name, the collegium has disregarded seniority and regional representation. A 2016 SC recommendation proposing his transfer from Uttarakhand to Andhra Pradesh is still on hold with the government.
But why can't the collegium's recommendations be segregated ?
Arguing their case, experts said in June'14, then CJI Lodha had written a letter to government mentioning executive cannot segregate recommendations without prior approval of the collegium. The letter by Justice Lodha had come after the government decided against elevating senior lawyer and former solicitor general Gopal Subramanium to the Supreme Court. Eventually, Subramanium withdrew his consent to be recommended for judgeship.
Justice Joseph is more deserving: SC Collegium
Recommending Justice Joseph's name for appointment, the collegium said he is "more deserving and suitable in all respects than other chief justices and senior positioned judges of HC for being appointed as judge of the SC". The collegium had taken into consideration combined seniority on all-India basis of chief justices and senior judges of HC, apart from their merit and integrity, it said.
