New Delhi: In what may be the sharpest warning to the NDA government, the Supreme Court on Friday asked whether the Narendra Modi government is trying to bring the entire judicial institution to a “grinding halt” by sitting on recommendations of the Collegium for appointment and transfer of judges to High Courts across the country.
Chief Justice of India T.S.Thakur made it clear to the Centre represented by Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi that the apex court would be “forced” to judicially intervene and call for every file sent by the Collegium to the government for its clearance.
Not satisfied by Mr. Rahtogi’s repeated assurances to take it up at the “highest level”, Mr. Thakur said “Don’t force us to ask where the files are… don’t force us to judicially intervene… don’t try to bring this institution to a grinding halt… That’s not the right thing to do.”
“We have a chart here detailing the list of Collegium recommendations for appointments and transfers. We can give it to you. There are 75 names of HC judges recommended by the Collegium. These include names for appointments and transfers of HC judges, including Chief Justices. There is nothing on them from your side so far,” Chief Justice Thakur said.
Chief Justice Thakur said that the government may be working on the draft Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges, but that did not give them the excuse to freeze appointments in the meanwhile.
“If you have a problem with a name suggested by us, send the file back to us. We will look into it… This is some kind of a logjam and this whole situation is getting very difficult,” Chief Justice Thakur said.
The Bench, also comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, pointed out to the government that “most HCs are working with only 40 percent of their sanctioned strength and people are languishing in jails for 13 years for a hearing”.
“Will you wait till they complete a life sentence?” Chief Justice Thakur asked the government.
Mr. Rohatgi sought some time to convey the court’s message and seek instructions.
Meanwhile, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently informed the Parliament that the draft MoP for judicial appointments has been reverted to the Collegium.
The Collegium had raised several objections to the government’s earlier drafts, especially clauses saying that government has the prerogative to drop a judicial candidate’s name for reasons of national security despite the Collegium’s reiteration.
Bureau Report
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