New Delhi: The Modi government Saturday evening cleared the appointment for five new judges for the Supreme Court after President Droupadi Murmu signed their warrants of appointment.
Those who are likely to be sworn Monday by Chief Justice of India D.Y.Chandrachud are justices Pankaj Mithal (Rajasthan HC Chief Justice), Sanjay Karol (Patna High Court Chief Justice), P.V. Sanjay Kumar (Manipur HC Chief Justice), Ahsanuddin Amanullah (Patna HC judge), and Manoj Misra (Allahabad HC judge).
The development comes as the SC continues to hear petitions against the central government for its delay in clearing judicial appointments.
However, government sources told ThePrint that it was incorrect to suggest that the appointments were approved on the back of the hearings, adding that the files of the five new SC judges were cleared by the prime minister and sent to the President’s office Thursday, a day before the hearing.
“In fact, the process to appoint them was on the last stage when the top court heard the matter Friday. It would be wrong to say that the government was prodded by the SC to clear the names,” one of the sources quoted above said.
The SC collegium sent the proposals to elevate the five on 13 December 2022. With their appointment, the top court will have 32 judges against the sanctioned strength of 34.
While these five names were pending with the government, the SC collegium last week made recommendations for the other two vacancies as well. Government sources said these two appointments will likely be cleared next week.
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What happened in court
During the hearing Friday, Attorney General R Venkataramani assured the Supreme Court bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul that the five appointments to SC would be made within 2-3 days.
But when the Bench asked him to give a deadline, the AG replied it wouldn’t be appropriate to put down a timeline for it.
The court accepted the AG’s request but implored him to ensure appointments are done before the next hearing on 12 February.
“We are giving you 10 days. And we are taking your word that these appointments will happen soon. Please, make sure it is done,” the bench said while observing the central government was not consistent with its approach to its appointments. It said while some names are cleared overnight, some remain pending for months, creating “issues of faith” between the judiciary and the executive.
The court also took a dim view over the government sitting on collegium’s proposals to transfer some HC judges, saying it has no role to play in it, unlike fresh appointments when it is required to provide inputs on a proposed candidate’s background.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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