Former CJIs, Judges Slam Govt For Blocking Collegium Recommendation

A day after Modi government ignored the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation to elevate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph to the apex court and requested the Chief Justice of India to reconsider the decision, an Indian Express report has compiled reactions of four former Chief Justices of India and four other former Supreme Court judges who have questioned CJI Dipak Misra for having let the Centre “stonewall” the Collegium recommendations.

Former Chief Justice of India Justice R M Lodha told the Indian Express that the Centre’s decision to segregate the recommendations—rejecting Justice Joseph’s elevation and clearing the way for senior Indu Malhotra’s appointment as an SC judge—“strikes at the very heart of the independence of the judiciary”.

“What governments do by segregating recommendations,” Justice Lodha told The Indian Express, “is (to) throw plans of the Collegium for seniority or ensuring a certain succession of future Chief Justices out of the window. By simply sitting over the file for weeks and then picking one and not the other, a whole new succession comes into play. This is interference in the judiciary, apart from, of course, rejecting names that the government doesn’t find favourable.”

Justice Lodha said the CJI ought to call an urgent meeting of the Collegium and take up the matter with the government. “If the reiteration must be done, it must happen immediately,” Justice Lodha told The Indian Express. “The Chief Justice cannot sit over the file either, indefinitely, as can’t the government.”

Justice TS Thakur, who worked under the Modi government during his tenure as CJI, said the whole thing was “unfortunate”.

The Indian Express said it also contacted two former Chief Justices and four other former judges of the Supreme Court, who were unanimous in expressing their ‘serious concern’ “over Chief Justice Dipak Misra not initiating any conversation with the Centre relating to the manner in which it had sat on the Collegium’s recommendations for over three months”.

Former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Justice A P Shah told The Indian Express: “Bit by bit, the primacy of the Collegium is being conceded…I am a bit surprised that the CJI said in open court that there was nothing wrong in the government returning the file. I doubt if he has consulted his colleagues in the Collegium before making this statement.”

Justice Shah further said: “Clearly the reason (Justice Joseph’s file was rejected) is his judgment against the Centre in 2016 [Justice K M Joseph had struck down the Centre’s imposition of President’s rule in Uttarakhand in 2016]. The points raised about his so-called seniority are not relevant, and he is the most suitable person for the job. As far as representation from Kerala is concerned, Justice Kurian Joseph, the only other Kerala Judge will retire in a few months.”