New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium is reportedly considering whether to recall its recommendation that advocate Nagendra Naik be elevated as judge in the Karnataka high court, since he contested the recent state assembly elections on a Janata Dal (Secular) ticket.According to The Indian Express, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, who heads the Supreme Court Collegium, has asked for clarification on whether Naik informed either the high court or the Supreme Court about his candidature, since it was known that the decision on his elevation is pending with the government.Sources told the newspaper that this was “embarrassing” for the Collegium, since it has recommended Naik’s name as a high court judge on four occasions now. “Naik’s nomination, first recommended by the SC Collegium headed by then CJI S A Bobde on October 3, 2019, has been reiterated on March 2, 2021, September 1, 2021 and on January 10 this year,” according to The Indian Express.Naik told the newspaper that he had not informed the Collegium about contesting the elections because he did not think a previous political affiliation would change his chances. “I did not inform or take permission because both the Supreme Court Collegium and the Law Minister had said in the case of Justice Victoria Gowri that political affiliation is not a bar against appointment as a judge,” he said.Naik contested the elections from the Bhatkal assembly seat. He came in third with only 1,462 votes, according to the Election Commission website.His decision to contest, Naik told The Indian Express, was because he thought the recommendation for his elevation has hit a “dead end”, since it has been pending for four years.