Centre had rejected the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice KM Joseph last month
New Delhi:
A retired district judge has approached the Supreme Court over the centre's rejection of Justice KM Joseph's elevation to the top court, calling the government's move "illegal and arbitrary".
Retired district judge GD Inamdar, from Maharashtra's Solapur, says the centre cannot segregate the names recommended by the Supreme Court collegium - a group of five most-senior judges - without its approval.
The government had rejected the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice KM Joseph but cleared the elevation of senior lawyer Indu Malhotra, making her the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a Supreme Court judge. She took oath last Friday.
In his plea, the retired judge says the Supreme Court must direct the centre to appoint Justice KM Joseph to the Supreme Court. The top court must also direct the centre to act on the collegium's recommendations in a time-bound manner and not sit on it, he said.
The reason the government had cited for rejecting Justice KM Joseph's elevation was it would increase the number of judges from the Kerala High Court to two though there were many high courts which did not have any representation in the top court's bench. Another reason cited by the government was that Justice Joseph was not among the senior high court chief justices.
The Supreme Court collegium met on Wednesday evening for 50 minutes to discuss the centre's rejection of its recommendation. Top sources told NDTV that the collegium is firm on its recommendation to elevate Justice KM Joseph and has decided to formulate a detailed response to the government.
A decision on the appointments had been deferred, an announcement by the Supreme Court said after the meeting of the collegium comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph.
If the judges decide to send Justice Joseph's name back, the government can only delay, not stop his appointment.
The government was seen to have set up a face-off with the judiciary after it rejected the collegium's choice. The move has been seen as an attack on judicial independence and was linked to Justice Joseph cancelling President's rule in Uttarakhand in 2016, which helped the Congress retain power.
Retired district judge GD Inamdar, from Maharashtra's Solapur, says the centre cannot segregate the names recommended by the Supreme Court collegium - a group of five most-senior judges - without its approval.
The government had rejected the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice KM Joseph but cleared the elevation of senior lawyer Indu Malhotra, making her the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a Supreme Court judge. She took oath last Friday.
In his plea, the retired judge says the Supreme Court must direct the centre to appoint Justice KM Joseph to the Supreme Court. The top court must also direct the centre to act on the collegium's recommendations in a time-bound manner and not sit on it, he said.
The reason the government had cited for rejecting Justice KM Joseph's elevation was it would increase the number of judges from the Kerala High Court to two though there were many high courts which did not have any representation in the top court's bench. Another reason cited by the government was that Justice Joseph was not among the senior high court chief justices.
The Supreme Court collegium met on Wednesday evening for 50 minutes to discuss the centre's rejection of its recommendation. Top sources told NDTV that the collegium is firm on its recommendation to elevate Justice KM Joseph and has decided to formulate a detailed response to the government.
A decision on the appointments had been deferred, an announcement by the Supreme Court said after the meeting of the collegium comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph.
If the judges decide to send Justice Joseph's name back, the government can only delay, not stop his appointment.
The government was seen to have set up a face-off with the judiciary after it rejected the collegium's choice. The move has been seen as an attack on judicial independence and was linked to Justice Joseph cancelling President's rule in Uttarakhand in 2016, which helped the Congress retain power.
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