ThePrint looks at the decisions taken by the top court collegium on elevation of judges in six high courts.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium Friday took several decisions pertaining to the elevation of judges in six high courts — Calcutta, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, Bombay, Jammu and Kashmir and Allahabad.
These decisions were taken by the three seniormost judges — Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices A.K. Sikri and S.A. Bobde.
ThePrint does a quick recap:
Calcutta High Court
The collegium recommended the appointment of advocate Sandipan Ganguly and judicial officer Manojit Mondal as judges.
Delhi High Court
While considering the proposal for elevation of four judges, the SC collegium deferred the decision on two names and sent the other names back to the high court.
While the elevation of advocates Krishnendu Datta and Saurabh Kirpal has been deferred by for “two-three weeks”, the elevation of advocates Priya Kumar and NLSIU graduate Sanjoy Ghose have been remitted to the high court.
Also read: Row over collegium picks for Supreme Court escalates but govt appoints them
Punjab and Haryana High Court
The top court collegium sent back names of all seven candidates — advocates Sukant Gupta, Sanjay Vashisth, Jasdeep Singh Gill, Mansur Ali, Sunil Kumar Singh Panwar, Deepinder Singh Nalwa and Harsh Bunger — that the high court collegium had recommended on 4 September.
Bombay High Court
The high court collegium had recommended the names of two judicial officers for elevation to the high court. While choosing to elevate P.V. Ganediwala, the top court remitted the recommendation of S.B Agrawal back to the high court.
Jammu and Kashmir High Court
The top court recalled its decision to elevate Nazir Ahmed Beig as judge to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. It also remitted the elevation of advocate Showkat Ahmad Makroo to the high court while sending the file for elevation of Wasim Sadiq Nargal back to the CJI for reconsideration.
Allahabad High Court
The top court recalled the proposal for elevation of advocate Amit Negi after fresh inputs from the department of justice.
Just a stray thought. The Collegium presently consists of the honorable CJI and the four seniormost judges. On the judicial side, all judges are equal. On the administrative side, it is effectively the Master of the Roster in charge, although the power to appoint / transfer judges is a shared responsibility. What if the entire Court were to constitute the Collegium. As a highly disciplined group of jurists, an increase in numbers would not by itself lead to confusion or recurrent differences of opinion. One presumes the Collegium today functions by consensus / unanimity since it is a small group. If the entire Court were to perform this function, it could be by preponderant – not simple – majority. Three or four dissenting voices should suffice to give everyone pause. The fact remains that the Collegium exercises awesome power. Some of its decisions raise questions, even amongst retired CJIs. The entire Supreme Court has such forbidding majesty that its decisions could be taken as a divine revelation.