The Supreme Court Collegium has reiterated its earlier recommendations to appoint judges to the High Courts of Madras and Punjab & Haryana.
The Collegium has reiterated its recommendation to appoint C Emalias and Dua Associates Partner Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy as judges of the Madras High Court.
These two names were recommended along with seven others back in December last year. However, the Centre had sent back the names of Emalias and Ramamoorthy. Now that the Collegium has reiterated its stance, their path to the Madras High Court is all but set in stone. The resolution states,
“We have perused the observations recorded in the file for referring back the afore-mentioned file for reconsideration of the above proposal in view of the complaints making allegations against these two recommendees. On careful examination of the allegations made in these complaints we do not find any prima facie substance and hence we are not persuaded to reconsider the matter. The complaints placed in the file being devoid of merit, deserve to be ignored.”
However, the three-member Collegium has remitted the proposal to appoint Sarodjiny Devy as a judge of the High Court to the Chief Justice. It had recommended Devy’s name for elevation in April this year.
The Collegium has also reiterated its recommendation to make Harnaresh Singh Gill a judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court. Gill’s name was recommended for elevation along with six others in April 2017, before the Centre objected to his elevation.
Quite interestingly, in its resolution, the Collegium notes that the Centre did not give any reasons for rejecting Gill’s name. The resolution states,
“…No reason has been given why his appointment was withheld. Even now, no adverse material has been placed in the file.
We have perused the note recorded in the file. We consider it appropriate to mention that the High Court Collegium had found the seven names, including that of Shri Harnaresh Singh Gill, suitable for elevation after assessing their performance, legal acumen and arguing skill on the basis of interaction during court hearings from time to time.”
The Collegium also returned the file recommending advocate Bharroo Prakash Sharma as a judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court. He was initially recommended for elevation in April 2017.
Read the resolutions:
Madras HC (Emalias and Ramamoorthy):
Madras HC (Sarodjiny Devy):
Punjab & Haryana HC:
Chhattisgarh HC: