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Informist, Friday, Sep 20, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court today asked Attorney General R. Venkataramani to submit in a week a report on the status of the names that the collegium had reiterated for judicial appointment but which were still pending with the government. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud also sought an explanation on why the appointments were delayed.

 

"You come out with a chart and tell us what is the status of each of the recommendations which has been reiterated by the collegium and what is the difficulty in making those appointments," the chief justice said.

 

"The collegium is not a search committee," the court said. "It has a certain status in terms of the constitutional fabric. In the case of a search committee, where the search committee makes a recommendation... there is an absolute discretion whether to accept or not accept the recommendation... So you come back to us and tell us what is the status of those which are pending."

 

The court said its intention was not to "unearth skeletons in the cupboard but to move forward so that the business of governance proceeds".

 

The court was hearing public interest litigation by advocate Harsh Vibhore Singal seeking a fixed time limit for the Centre to notify appointments of judges recommended by the collegium. It was also hearing a petition by the Jharkhand government seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Centre for not clearing the collegium's recommendation to appoint Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao as chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court.

 

The attorney general requested the court to place the matter for hearing after a week as it would give him time to come back with the status of the recommendations. Agreeing to the request, the court said some appointments were in the pipeline and are expected to come through shortly.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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