Bar Council of Delhi urges Collegium to elevate Justices Rajendra Menon, Pradeep Nandrajog

The Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) has written to the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and other members of the Supreme Court Collegium requesting the Collegium to elevate Justices Rajendra Menon and Pradeep Nandrajog to Supreme Court..Justice Menon is currently serving as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court while and Justice Nandrajog is the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court..“We would also request Your Honour and other Hon’ble Judges of the Collegium to elevate Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajendra Menon, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, to Supreme Court of India and also consider other Senior Judges from Delhi High Court.”.The BCD, in its meeting on April 15, resolved to request the Collegium to consider the elevation of Justices Menon and Nandrajog, both of whom have been attached to Delhi High Court at some point. The Bar Council of Delhi has also resolved to request the Collegium to consider other Senior Judges of the Delhi High Court for elevation..Thanking the Collegium for the acknowledgment and appreciation of the performance of the Delhi High Court, the letter signed by Advocate KC Mittal says that the credit for the same goes to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court along with other Judges and the members of the Bar..Both, Justice Menon and Justice Nandrajog were recommended by the Collegium for elevation to the Supreme Court in a Resolution passed by the Collegium on December 12, 2018. However, in an unexpected turn of events, when the Collegium met in January 2019 after the winter Break, in a Resolution passed on January 10, 2019 featured only the names of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna for elevation to the Supreme Court..It was stated in the Resolution of January 10, 2019 that the Collegium had taken certain decisions in December 2018 regarding elevations but the consultations on the same could not be completed. The Supreme Court was closed for winter break during which period the Collegium underwent a change on account of retirement of Justice Madan B Lokur on December 31, 2018. When the new composition of the Collegium met in the first week of January 2019, it was decided to recommend Justices Maheshwari and Khanna after considering all the aspects, including seniority..This apparent supersession in elevation had even led to a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, reportedly writing a letter to CJI Gogoi expressing his views against the Collegium’s decision to reconsider Justice Nandrajog..Shortly after, Justice Nandrajog, who was heading the Rajasthan High Court at the time, was transferred to the Bombay High Court as its Chief Justice and he assumed charge on April 7. Justice Menon continues to serve as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. He will retire from office on June 7, 2017..[Read Bar Council of Delhi’s letter to the Collegium].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.