New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium today reiterated its recommendation to the Centre on elevating Justice K.M. Joseph, the present chief justice of the Uttarakhand high court to the apex court. The collegium has also recommended the names of Indira Banerjee and Vineet Saran, chief justices of the high courts of Madras and Odisha respectively.In April, the government had rejected the recommendation made by the collegium and asked it to reconsider its position. On May 11, the collegium, made up of the five senior most judges, met again and decided to reiterate its previous recommendation “in principle”.But after its next meeting on May 16, the collegium deferred the decision saying, “There should be further deliberation and broad-based consideration of the names of the chief justices as well as judges of the high courts which are at present not represented in the Supreme Court.”A resolution passed after the July 16 meeting said:“The collegium, on due consideration of all the aspects mentioned in the aforesaid two letters, resolves to reiterate the afore-mentioned recommendation, especially since nothing adverse regarding suitability of justice K.M. Joseph has been pointed out in the aforesaid letters.”Justice K.M. Joseph. Credit: PTI/File photoJustice Joseph’s name had first come up for elevation on January 10 alongside that of justice Indu Malhotra. The Centre then took three months to clear the files and finally notified justice Malhotra’s appointment to the apex court on April 26 while refusing to clear justice Joseph’s file.With its rejection, it had sent a six-page note, learnt to have been written by law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, detailing why it could not appoint justice Joseph. One of the key arguments against the elevation was that he represents Kerala, a relatively small state from where there was already a judge in the Supreme Court and two chief justices of high courts. The Centre also said he was junior to 41 high court judges and there was no SC/ST judge in the Supreme Court.The collegium resolution passed on January 10 had already, in fact, addressed the issue of seniority:“The Collegium considers that at present justice K.M. Joseph, who hails from Kerala high court and is currently functioning as chief justice of Uttarakhand high court, is more deserving and suitable in all respects than other chief justices and senior judges of high courts for being appointed as judges of the Supreme Court of India.”At the time of the Centre’s move to block the elevation of justice Joseph, several former chief justices and other senior judges were unequivocal in their view that the denial of elevation had much to do with his striking down the imposition of president’s rule in Uttarakhand in 2016.Former chief justice of Delhi high court and former chairperson of the Law Commission, justice A.P. Shah, was quoted by the newspaper as saying, “Clearly the reason (justice Joseph’s file was rejected) is his judgment against the Centre in 2016. The points raised about his so-called seniority are not relevant and he is the most suitable person for the job. As far as representation from Kerala is concerned, justice Kurian Joseph, the only other Kerala judge will retire in a few months.”The Supreme Court is at present down to 24 judges against the sanctioned strength of 31 and several more judges are slated to retire this year.High court appointmentsThe SC collegium also recommended names for appointments of chief justices of seven high courts – Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Madras, Odisha, Kerala, Patna and Jharkhand.Acting chief justice of Delhi high court, justice Gita Mittal has been recommended for the position in Jammu and Kashmir. With Justice Vineet Saran making a move to the apex court, Justice K.S. Jhaveri, a judge at the Gujarat high court, has been recommended to be appointed as the chief justice of the Orissa high court.From the vacancy created by Indira Banerjee’s elevation the Supreme Court, the collegium suggested the name of Bombay high court judge justice V.K. Tahilramani to replace her in the Madras high court.Justice Hrishikesh Roy, who is currently functioning as the acting chief justice of the Kerala high court, has been recommended to be appointed as the chief justice.LiveLaw reported, “The collegium has further recommended the appointment of Patna high court chief justice Rajendra Menon as the chief justice of the Delhi high court and Gujarat high court judge, justice M.R. Shah as the chief justice of the Patna high court. It also recommended the appointment of Calcutta high court judge, justice Aniruddha Bose as the chief justice of the Jharkhand high court.”
