New Delhi: A three-member Supreme Court bench, comprising the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, has reportedly said the Modi government has done “nothing wrong” by rejecting Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph’s promotion to the Supreme Court.
“A bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud made the observation while rejecting a petition filed by senior advocate Indira Jaising seeking stay on the appointment of jurist Indu Malhotra as an apex court judge,” The Times Of India has reported.
On Wednesday, the Centre had cleared the appointment of senior advocate Indu Malhotra’s appointment as SC judge but held back Justice Joseph’s elevation to the top court. The government wrote to CJI Misra saying it would not be appropriate, at this stage, to elevate Joseph to the Supreme Court, The Indian Express reported.
The Supreme Court reportedly said the government was within its rights to send back a judge’s name for reconsideration and, in such an eventuality, the Collegium would deal with it in accordance with judicial precedent and the Constitution.
Calling the plea of advocate Indira Jaising to stay Malhotra’s appointment as “unimaginable”, “unconscionable” and “never heard of”, the apex court said constitutional propriety demands that warrant of her appointment be implemented.
Jaising told The Indian Express that they were for Malhotra’s elevation but were only concerned about the government segregating files of Malhotra and Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph whose names were recommended together by the Collegium for elevation on January 10.
Reacting to the CJI’s ruling, Jaising told PTI, “We are worried about the independence of the judiciary.”
If the five-judge body—comprising the Chief Justice of India and a forum of four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, which recommends appointments and transfers of judges—sends Justice Joseph’s name back, the government can only delay, not stop the appointment.
Many have said the Modi government is averse to Justice Joseph’s appointment because, in a ruling in 2016, he cancelled President’s rule in Uttarakhand and making the return of the Congress’s Harish Rawat government possible. The development had come as a major embarrassment for the BJP-ruled government at the Centre.
The government’s decision evoked sharp reactions on Thursday with the Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh terming it as “disturbing”. Speaking in his indicisual capacity, Singh told the Indian Express, “This kind of interference by the executive is definitely uncalled for”.
Addressing a presser in New Delhi, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the government must immediately reconsider his appointment. “They are unwilling to accept the Collegium’s recommendations but only want judges that are favourable to them,” Sibal said.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram wondered what was holding up Justice K M Joseph’s appointment. He tweeted: “His State or his religion or his judgement in the Uttarakhand case?” “As the law stands now, the recommendation of the SC collegium is final and binding in the appointment of judges,” he said in a second tweet on the issue. “Is the Modi government above the law?”
The CPM also said the government’s withholding Justice K M Joseph’s appointment was an unwarranted intrusion into the selection process of a judge and that it will affect the independence of the judiciary.