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HomeIndiaGovernanceSupreme Court collegium breaks with tradition, ‘interviews’ candidates for HC judge posts

Supreme Court collegium breaks with tradition, ‘interviews’ candidates for HC judge posts

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The exercise is an attempt to address criticism about the collegium’s ‘opaque’ appointments process.

New Delhi: On 26 March, when the Supreme Court collegium met to clear names recommended by the collegiums of the Calcutta and Madhya Pradesh high courts for appointment as judges, it created history.

The collegium members — Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice Jasti Chelameswar and Justice Ranjan Gogoi — interviewed the candidates, albeit informally.

The minutes of the meeting, sent to the Centre along with the recommendations, also refer to this break from tradition. “Apart from this, we invited all the recommendees (sic) with a view to have an interaction with them,” it says.

The Supreme Court collegium has come under the spotlight and courted criticism over what critics say is its lack of transparency in the appointment process. Last year, in a bid to address some of that criticism, the Supreme Court collegium decided to post the minutes of its meetings on the apex court’s website.

The decision to interact with the advocates and judicial officers recommended by the high court collegiums is also a step in this direction, sources said.

The ones chosen

After the interviews, during which the candidates were asked several questions to assess their suitability for the job, the collegium recommended 10 names to the Centre.

However, the Supreme Court collegium kept on hold its decision on one of the candidates recommended by the Calcutta High Court, seeking some additional information on him from the acting chief justice. In the case of another candidate, the collegium deferred the matter.

The collegium cleared one advocate and four judicial officers for appointment as judges in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and five judicial officers for elevation to the bench of the Calcutta High Court.

The collegium also accepted the justification extended by the Calcutta High Court collegium for not recommending five senior judicial officers for elevation.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Welcome move. Considering the powers that a high court judge will exercise during her tenure – some may later be elevated to the apex court – a detailed personal interview, following a thorough examination of the written record of the candidate’s profile, is imperative. 2. To be fair to those who have been overlooked, details of candidates who have been selected could be displayed on the website, whereas a classified record – accessible to the government but not to members of the public – could be maintained of those who have been rejected.

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