SC Collegium Proposes Appointment Of Two Judicial Officers As Tripura HC Judges, Says Cogent Reasons For Not Recommending Senior Judicial Officers

The Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Tripura in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues had earlier made the recommendation on 01 December 2022, however, the views of the Chief Minister and the Governor for the State of Tripura on the above recommendation had not been placed in the file.

“On this aspect, the Department of Justice has forwarded the above recommendation by invoking para 14 of the Memorandum of Procedure which provides that if the comments of the State constitutional authorities are not received within the said timeframe (six weeks from the date of receipt of the proposal from the Chief Justice of the High Court), it should be presumed by the Minister of Law and Justice that the Governor and Chief Minister have nothing to add to the proposal and proceed accordingly”, the resolution reads.

After careful scrutiny and evaluation of the candidates merit and suitability and also taking into account the views of the Chief Justice and senior judges of the High Court of Tripura while making these recommendations, the collegium has found Shri Biswajit Palit, presently serving as Legal Remembrancer and Secretary, Law Department, Govt. of Tripura to be of impeccable reputation and integrity thus making him a fitting candidate for the position.

With regard to Shri Sabyasachi Datta Purkayastha, the Director of the Tripura Judicial Academy, the resolution states that while one consultee-judge suggested considering his appointment at a later stage, the Collegium, after thorough deliberation, deemed him suitable for the role. The Government of India’s inputs, too, did not raise any concerns about his reputation or integrity, the resolution points.

Acknowledging the exclusion of senior judicial officers from the recommendation list the collegium noted that the decision was supported based on compelling reasons provided by the High Court Collegium for not recommending their names.

“Cogent reasons have been recorded by the Collegium of the High Court for not recommending their names. We are, therefore, in agreement with the Collegium of the High Court for not recommending them”, the resolution records.

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