Rare 75-Minute Supreme Court Collegium Meet, But No Consensus On New Judges

The meeting of the Supreme Court collegium usually does not last long, but Tuesday morning's meeting that went on for 75 minutes was a rare occasion.

The Supreme Court usually starts at 10:30 am and lawyers wait for judges to arrive. But it was only at 11:15 am that judges of court No. 1 to 5 finally reached their benches.

Despite a 75-minutes long meeting, no consensus could be reached on the appointment of three judges in the Supreme Court and the appointment or transfer of high court judges, sources said.

The collegium comprises Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice UU Lalit, Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice SK Kaul and Justice S Abdul Nazeer.

This meeting is likely to be held today too.

The Supreme Court has three vacancies after three judges retired recently - Justice Vineet Saran, Justice LN Rao and Justice AM Khanwilkar.

The collegium's meeting comes at a time when there is a delay in the Law Ministry writing a letter to Chief Justice Ramana to seek recommendation of Justice UU Lalit's name as the next Chief Justice of India.

Traditionally, the Law Ministry writes this letter a month before the Chief Justice retires, who then send the recommendation to the ministry.

Chief Justice Ramana will retire on August 26 and Justice Lalit is set to take oath as the 49th Chief Justice of India on August 27.

Justice Lalit's tenure will be of only 74 days.

As the Chief Justice, he will head the collegium comprising Justice Chandrachud, Justice SK
Kaul, Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Indira Banerjee.

Justice KM Joseph will enter the collegium with the retirement of Justice Indira Banerjee on September 23.

Justice Lalit will retire on November 8 and after that Justice DY Chandrachud will be appointed as the 50th Chief Justice of India.