Centre cedes ground to collegium, to initiate process for appointment of 44 HC judges

After a brief lull, the issue of appointments to the higher judiciary has resurfaced. However, this time, the Centre has conceded and is ready to approve the forty-four names recommended for elevation by the collegium..TOI reports that twenty-nine candidates have been recommended for elevation to the Allahabad High Court, two to the Karnataka High Court, seven to the Calcutta High Court and six to the Madras High Court..According to sources, Public Prosecutor PM Nawaz and government advocate Narendra Prasad have been recommended for elevation to the Karnataka High Court..It seems that the Centre has no choice but to sign off on these recommendations after the Supreme Court collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, insisted, not for the first time, that these persons be elevated..In October last year, erstwhile CJI TS Thakur had pulled up the Centre for dragging its feet on the issue of judicial appointments, threatening to summon PMO officials to Court. The Centre later responded that it had cleared thirty-four of the seventy-seven collegium recommendations, and sent back the rest..A brief back-and-forth ensued, which has now eventually culminated in the Centre accepting the recommendations..This move would clear the logjam created on account of the failure of the Centre and the collegium to see eye to eye, thereby filling up the vacancies across the high courts in the country. It would particularly benefit the Allahabad High Court, which currently has seventy-six vacancies as against an approved strength of one hundred and sixty judges.