The Central government was in the line of fire today before the Supreme Court of India..First, the Court came down heavily on the government for failing to file a counter affidavit for more than a year in a PIL relating to road safety..The melee surrounding the same had hardly died down, when another petition, this one concerning delay in judicial appointments came up for hearing..In this matter, Chief Justice TS Thakur called for the Centre’s law officer. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the Centre, whereupon the court proceeded to grill him on the inaction of the Executive in clearing the files sent by the Collegium..According to The Hindu, 75 names were recommended by the Collegium for appointment or transfer but there was no action by the Centre on the same..“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”, he said..The Court also told the government that it would be forced to intervene judicially and call for every file sent by the Collegium to the Centre. The Court remarked,.“If you have a problem with a name suggested by us, send the file back to us. We will look into it…” .Rohatgi sought time to take instructions, which was allowed..The remarks of the Court comes at a time when the Centre is battling the Supreme Court over the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges to higher judiciary
The Central government was in the line of fire today before the Supreme Court of India..First, the Court came down heavily on the government for failing to file a counter affidavit for more than a year in a PIL relating to road safety..The melee surrounding the same had hardly died down, when another petition, this one concerning delay in judicial appointments came up for hearing..In this matter, Chief Justice TS Thakur called for the Centre’s law officer. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the Centre, whereupon the court proceeded to grill him on the inaction of the Executive in clearing the files sent by the Collegium..According to The Hindu, 75 names were recommended by the Collegium for appointment or transfer but there was no action by the Centre on the same..“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”, he said..The Court also told the government that it would be forced to intervene judicially and call for every file sent by the Collegium to the Centre. The Court remarked,.“If you have a problem with a name suggested by us, send the file back to us. We will look into it…” .Rohatgi sought time to take instructions, which was allowed..The remarks of the Court comes at a time when the Centre is battling the Supreme Court over the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges to higher judiciary
