New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government informed the Supreme Court Monday that a decision regarding Justice Akil Kureshi’s elevation as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court will be communicated to the apex court on 2 August.
The government was responding to a plea filed by the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association. The association had moved the court alleging executive overreach in the government delaying Justice Kureshi’s appointment even after the SC collegium had cleared it in May.
The Gujarat Bar had earlier alleged that the Modi government disliked Justice Kureshi as he had delivered two major verdicts in the high court in matters pertaining to PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah between 2010 and 2011.
On Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said Justice Kureshi’s elevation is still under consideration and that another two weeks was required to receive “standing instructions about it” from the Centre.
Mehta’s submissions in court come after Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed Parliament on 17 July that the appointment of Justice Kureshi and Justice Vikram Nath (who was recommended to be the Andhra Pradesh Chief Justice) was still under various stages of the Memorandum of Procedure for the appointment of judges.
Senior advocate Fali S. Nariman, appearing for the association, however, said he was not against the Centre seeking more time but wanted the government to clearly state whether “it has sought the opinion of the Gujarat government in the matter as per the Memorandum of Procedure”.
He also argued that the Centre does not have the last word on judicial appointments.
“The central government has only the role of a ‘distinguished communicator’ as per the Memorandum of Procedure and the Department of Justice is only to announce the appointment,” Nariman said.
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Gujarat lawyers’ body had challenged delay
ThePrint had earlier reported that GHCAA had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court claiming that the Modi government withholding the appointment of Justice Kureshi as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court is an instance of the executive exerting disproportionate influence in the process of judicial appointments.
The plea, drafted by advocate Purvish Malkan, claims that the “failure to elevate Kureshi is not only unreasonable and arbitrary but also seriously jeopardizes the independence of the judiciary and hence, violates the basic structure of the Constitution of India”.
Failing to act on the collegium’s recommendation amounts to the executive’s direct participation in the appointment of chief justice that “is not countenanced at law”, the plea adds.
The plea had challenged the central government’s inaction to sign off on the Supreme Court collegium’s recommendation that Justice Kureshi is appointed to the top post in Madhya Pradesh. The association has further submitted that it was compelled to approach the apex court since all other efforts of representation to the law ministry had failed.
The Supreme Court collegium on 10 May had recommended the elevation of Justice Kureshi, the then senior-most judge of the Gujarat High Court, as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. In June, however, the Modi government appointed Justice Ravi Shankar Jha as the acting chief justice of the high court even as it kept the collegium’s recommendation pending.
Justice Kureshi was also at the centre of confusion last year when Justice A.S. Dave, who is junior to Kureshi, was set to be appointed as the acting chief justice of the Gujarat High Court when Justice Subhash Reddy was elevated to the Supreme Court. Kureshi was transferred to the Bombay High Court at the same time, leading to protests from the Gujarat Bar.
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Kureshi is unworthy to become judge