"Appointments Are Happening!", Says CJI On Appointment of HC Judges

MEHAL JAIN

22 Feb 2019 8:58 AM GMT

  • Appointments Are Happening!, Says CJI On Appointment of HC Judges

    "Appointments are happening! As the Chief Justice, I am telling you that whatever is pending is pending before the Supreme Court collegium."

    "Appointments are happening! As the Chief Justice, I am telling you that whatever is pending is pending before the Supreme Court collegium. There are almost 70-80 proposals before the Collegium and hardly 27 before the government", said Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Friday. The remark came at the outset of the hearing on a petition by NGO Centre for Public Interest...

    "Appointments are happening! As the Chief Justice, I am telling you that whatever is pending is pending before the Supreme Court collegium. There are almost 70-80 proposals before the Collegium and hardly 27 before the government", said Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Friday.

    The remark came at the outset of the hearing on a petition by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) regarding appointment of judges across High Courts.

    Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for the petitioner-organisation, advanced that in as many as 9 instances, there has been no appointment despite reiteration of the recommendation by the Collegium- "and this when the court has clearly held that once a candidate's name is reiterated, they have to be appointed! There are a lot of a cases where the government has not responded..."

    "No, not a lot. Appointments are happening! We don't want to say anymore right now...Just wait...", repeated the Chief Justice.

    Deeming it fit to hear the PIL "at a later point", the bench, also comprising Justice Sanjeev Khanna, listed it for after 6 weeks.

    The petition alleges that the Centre's act of not notifying the names that have either been recommended more than six weeks back or have already been reiterated by the collegium is violative of the verdict in the case of Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Assn. v. Union of India, (1993) 4 SCC 441 (Second Judges case), the principles of which were reestablished in Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Assn. v. Union of India.

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