"Seniority Set Out In Collegium Recommendations Must Be Followed": Supreme Court Asks Centre To Address The Issue

In the order passed in the contempt petition filed against the Central Government over delay in finalizing judicial appointments, the Supreme Court has recorded its concern regarding the Centre splitting up collegium recommendations.

The Court has asked the Centre to address the issue, as the seniority intended by the collegium gets disrupted when the Centre decides to pick some names leaving out other names forwarded in the same resolution.

The order passed by a bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, AS Oka and Vikram Nath stated as follows :

"Another aspect which has been emphasized before us is that when the recommendations are cleared by the Supreme Court, the seniority set out therein must be followed as it gives rise to necessary hard burns. This issue has also been flagged by Mr. Prashant Bhushan in IA No.5673/2022. in WP (Criminal) No. 895 of 2018. This is another aspect the Government must address itself to".

During the hearing of the case yesterday, Justice Kaul had orally remarked that some names are approved fast while some others are kept pending for months. In the previous hearing held on November 28 as well, Justice Kaul had expressed the same concern.

"Sometimes when you appoint, you pick up some names from the list and not others. What you do is you effectively disrupt the seniority. When the Supreme Court collegium makes the recommendation, many factors are kept in mind.

Also Read: Centre Not Entitled To Segregate Collegium Resolutions, Supreme Court Should Act Tough Against Executive For Sitting Over Proposals : Justice MB Lokur

A recent instance of the Centre splitting up the collegium resolution is the proposal to transfer Justice S Muralidhar as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court.  The Supreme Court collegium on September 28 made a resolution regarding the transfer of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Dr. S Muralidhar from J&K&L High Court and Orissa High Court as Chief Justices of Rajasthan and Madras High Courts respectively. However, the Department of Justice on October 11 only notified the transfer of Justice Mithal, ignoring the proposal regarding Justice Muralidhar made in the same collegium resolution.

Centre Splitting Up Collegium Resolutions : Exception Becoming A Norm?