Supreme Court’s move came on a plea that cited several instances when Modi govt has inexplicably sat on collegium recommendations for several months.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday decided to hear after eight weeks a plea filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) seeking the issuance of a notification for the appointment of those judges whose names have been reiterated by the Supreme Court collegium, or of those judges whose recommendations have been made by the Collegium and where the government has not responded for more than six weeks.
In its petition, the CPIL has cited several instances when the Narendra Modi government has inexplicably sat on collegium recommendations for several months.
These, the petition says, “…not only show complete disregard of the law so declared by this Hon’ble court but also a virtual breakdown of the consultative process thereby diminishing if not destroying the primacy of the Chief Justice of India with regard to appointment in the manner laid down in the judgment”.
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“The picture that emerges reflects an extremely sorry state of affairs with regard to appointments and transfers of Judges to the higher Judiciary thereby seriously eroding the Independence of the Judiciary and violating the Basic Structure of the Constitution,” it adds.
The petition cites news reports carried by ThePrint to buttress its argument.
Appearing for the petitioners Friday, senior advocate Dushyant Dave sought the court’s intervention in the issue.
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During the hearing, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi observed that the number of judges whose names have been reiterated by the Collegium and which are pending with the government is perhaps three times more than the figure of 13 names mentioned by Dave.
The Chief Justice asked Dave to give him time to deal with this issue on the administrative side and ordered that the matter be listed after 8 weeks.