The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Central government to submit a list of names reiterated by the Collegium for judgeship, and sought an explanation as to why they haven't been processed yet.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was hearing two petitions.
The first was a plea by the Jharkhand government seeking contempt of court action against the Central government for not clearing the recommendation made by the Collegium to appoint Justice MS Ramachandra Rao as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.
The Collegium had recommended the appointment of Justice Rao on July 11, but the same is yet to be cleared.
The other petition, filed by Advocate Harsh Vibhore Singal, seeks fixed timelines for the Union government to process and greenlight Collegium resolutions.
When the matter was mentioned today, Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani told the Court,
"I would like to point out something regarding the judges appointment matter. I am a little unwell..."
Singal then said,
"I do not know what the Centre gets by seeking adjournments in such a case. Problem is not with the process of judges appointment but..."
The Court then said that it would take up the matter when it is called.
When the case came up for hearing again, the Court expressed its inclination to adjourn it, revealing that some appointments were being cleared.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan then chimed in, saying,
"There are cases of Saurabh Kirpal etc where names were not cleared and there are so many instances when the Centre sits on Collegium recommendations for years."
It was at this juncture that CJI Chandrachud asked the AG,
"If you can please make a list of the names reiterated and why it is pending and at what level it is pending. Show us why it is pending."
Appearing for the State of Jharkhand, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal weighed in, saying,
"Justice Sarangi's name (recommended as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court in December 2023 and appointed only in July 2024) could not be cleared and he could not join for 6 months."
The AG's response was,
"There are several reasons why such names are pending and we have no hesitation...it is very easy to come to court and say all of this..."
The matter was eventually adjourned.
The plea by the Jharkhand government also highlighted that there was inordinate delay in clearing the Collegium recommendation as regards the previous Chief Justice too.
As per the plea, the Collegium had recommended the name of Orissa High Court judge Justice BR Sarangi as Chief Justice of Jharkhand on December 27, 2023.
However, the appointment was cleared by the Central government only on July 3, 2024 and Justice Sarangi retired from office on July 19. Thus, he ended up serving as Chief Justice for only 15 days, the plea pointed out.
The Collegium had acted promptly by recommending the appointment of Chief Justice well in advance, but the Centre has not acted on the same, the State has alleged.
This has affected the administration of justice and the delay by the Central government is in violation of the Supreme Court judgments in the Second Judges and the Third Judges cases, and a direct assault on the independence of judiciary, it has been contended.