SC flags govt delay in HC judges’ appointment, transfer

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reiterated its concern over the delay in the appointment of judges in various High Courts. The apex court heard the petition against the Centre for keeping pending the Collegium-recommended names of judges for the appointment in various High Courts.
A bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul remarked that nothing happened in the last seven months since it heard the plea last. After a bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia raised the matter, Attorney General R. Venkataramani sought a week’s time to come back with instructions on the pending recommendations for judges’ appointment to the high court.
“Today, I am quiet because the attorney general has sought a very short time, next time I will not be quiet. Use your good office to see these issues are resolved,” Justice Kaul told Venkataramani during the hearing.
The bench said, “There were 80 recommendations pending until last week when 10 names were cleared. Now, the figure is 70, of which 26 recommendations are of transfer of judges, seven are reiterations, nine are pending without being returned to the Collegium and one case is of appointment of the Chief Justice to a sensitive high court.” All these recommendations are pending since November last year, it said.
Justice Kaul said there is a seven-month hiatus since something substantial was done on the recommendations which are pending and these needed basic processing only.
“We have endeavoured to push things and monitor closely. I have told the attorney general that every 10-12 days, this matter will be taken up, so that before I demit office (25 December), substantial work is done,” said Justice Kaul, who is part of the apex court collegium which looks after the appointment of judges in the top court and the high courts. The appointment of judges through the Collegium system has in the past become a major flashpoint between the Supreme Court and the Centre with the mechanism drawing criticism from different quarters. The top court was hearing a petition filed by Advocates Association of Bengaluru seeking contempt action against the Union Ministry of Law and Justice for not allegedly adhering to the timeline set by the court in a 2021 judgement. During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for another petitioner NGO Common Cause, submitted a chart related to pending recommendations with the government.