Collegium again asks Central government to notify appointment of advocate R John Sathyan to Madras High Court

The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday expressed its displeasure over Central government refusing to clear the recommendation to appoint advocate R John Sathyan as a judge of Madras High Court. .The government had earlier returned Sathyan's file (first recommended in February 2022) citing an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report which referred to two posts he had made on social media one of which was about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the Collegium had chosen to reiterate its earlier proposal on January 17 this year. Pertinently, the Collegium in its January 17 reiteration had said that Sathyan's name should be cleared first before clearing the names of other persons recommended the same day.But names recommended after Sathyan were cleared but Sathyan's file is yet to be processed.Objecting to the same, the Collegium its its resolution of Tuesday said,"The Collegium is of the considered view that necessary action for the issuance of a notification for the elevation of persons who have been recommended earlier in point of time should be taken at the earliest including the name of Shri R John Sathyan which has been reiterated by this Collegium on January 17, 2023," the resolution said.The names which have been recommended earlier in point of time including the reiterated names ought not to be withheld or overlooked as this disturbs their seniority whereas those recommended later steal march on them, the Collegium underscored.These objections of Collegium are part of a resolution of Tuesday recommending four new judges to the Madras High Court. In the same resolution, the Collegium also noted that another candidate, Ramaswamy Neelakandan has also not been appointed though his candidature was recommended on January 17. The judges body, therefore, asked the government to notify Neelakandan's appointment before notifying the name of K Rajasekar, the youngest of the four new candidates recommended on Tuesday.If Rajasekar's appointment is notified first, he would rank senior to Neelakandan despite being younger than him and such a deviation would be unfair and against settled convention, the resolution said.."As on 31.01.2023, Shri Ramaswamy Neelakandan was 48.07 years of age while Shri K Rajasekar on that date was 47.09 years of age. Shri Neelakandan who is a member of the Bar has been recommended earlier in point of time must be appointed before Shri Rajasekar is appointed. Otherwise, Shri Rajasekar, who is a judicial officer and younger than Shri Neelakandan, would rank senior to Shri Neelakandan. Such a deviation in seniority would be unfair and against the settled convention. Hence, while recommending the name of Shri K Rajasekar for elevation, the Collegium is of the view that his appointment should be notified after the appointment of Shri Ramaswamy Neelakandan is notified," the resolution said..[Read Resolution]