Judges Appointments | Timelines Will Be Followed, Pending Collegium Recommendations Will Be Cleared Soon : Centre Assures Supreme Court

Signalling a dial down on the confrontation with the Supreme Court over judges appointments, the Central Government on Friday assured the Court that the timelines on judicial appointments will be followed and the pending collegium recommendations will be cleared soon."All efforts are being made to conform to the timelines(as laid down by the Supreme Court)", Attorney General for India R Venkataramani told a bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka. The AG informed the bench that 104 recommendations from High Court collegiums are pending with the Central Government and out of them 44 will be processed soon and forwarded to the Supreme Court collegium by tomorrow and the rest of it also will be processed soon."I am personally looking into it, not the names but the process", the AG assured the bench.The bench enquired about the status of 10 recommendations made by the Supreme Court collegium which are pending with the Centre. Two of those recommendations are quite old, pending since October 2021 and the others were made in November 2022, the bench pointed out.The AG assured that all these collegium recommendations for the Rajasthan High Court will be cleared soon.Status of 5 names recommended for elevation to the Supreme CourtNext, the bench enquired about the status of 5 names which were recommended by the Supreme Court collegium in December 2022 for elevation to the Supreme Court.Regarding this, the AG made a request for deferment."Would your lordships defer this for a little while? I have some inputs, but I may have some difference of opinion. I don't think I should probably discuss it here", AG said."We will defer. But things should not take time. They are already existing Chief Justices or senior High Court judges", Justice Kaul said."In so far as pending 5 recommendation to this Court is concerned, learned Attorney General requests for deferment as he is personally looking into it", the bench recorded in the order.Proposals for appointment of 3 Chief JusticesNext, the bench enquired about the status of recommendation made by the Supreme Court collegium in December 2022 for the appointment of Chief Justices to the High Courts of Jharkhand, Gauhati and Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.Based on the assurance made by the AG, the bench recorded in the order : "In so far as recommendations of 3 Chief Justices are concerned, learned AG said he is looking into it. We have impressed on the learned AG that there will be vacancies of Chief Justices which will arise on account of elevations to the Supreme Court and those cannot be processed till the elevations takes place, which is matter of concern".Bench expresses concern about proposals of transfer of judges remaining pendingThe bench also flagged the issue of the ten recommendations made by the Collegium regarding transfer of High Court judges remaining pending."Ten recommendations for transfer have been made. These have been made in the end of September and end of November. In that the government has very limited role. Keeping them pending sends a very wrong signal. It is unacceptable to the collegium", Justice Kaul orally said.Justice Kaul commented that such delay gives rise to an impression of 'third party interference'. It may be noted that the bar associations of the High Courts of Gujarat, Telangana and Madras had launched protests against some transfer proposals.The bench recorded in the order as follows :"Last aspect which we want to deal with, and currently is of considerable importance, is the recommendations made for transfer of High Court judges made by the collegium, numbering 10. Two of them were sent at the end of September 2022, and eight were sent at the end of November 2022. The transfer of High Court judges is done in the interest of administration of justice and exceptions apart, there is no reason for any delay on the party of the government in implementing the same. The Collegium consults and seeks opinion of the judges and also the Chief Justices of the High Courts from where the transfer is being made and where to the transfer is made. Comments of the judges transferred are also obtained. At times, at the request of the judge concerned, alternative courts are also assigned for transfer. This process is completed before a recommendation is made to the government. Delay in the same, not only affects the administration of judges, but also creates an impression of third party sources interfering on behalf of these judges with the government".Transferred judge does not go to the other HC as a 'bar judge' or 'service judge'The bench pointed out that when a judge is transferred, the said judge goes to the High Court as a transferred judge and it should be left to the Chief Justice of the High Court to categorize the vacancies.The bench dictated the following order: "It should be appreciated that in every High Court there is a sanctioned strength of judges. 2/3rd of the judges are from the bar and 1/3rd from the service. If a...

Judges Appointments | Timelines Will Be Followed, Pending Collegium Recommendations Will Be Cleared Soon : Centre Assures Supreme Court

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