Collegium rejects Centre's objection to appointment of "CPI(M) sympathiser" as Kerala High Court judge

The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday turned down the Central government's objection to the elevation of advocate Manoj Pulamby Madhavan as a judge of the Kerala High Court..The Central government had objected to Madhavan's candidature on the ground that he was a sympathiser of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and had also served as a Government Pleader in 2010 and 2016-2021 during the tenure of Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala."The input that the candidate is considered to be a CPI(M) sympathizer is otherwise vague and bereft of cogent grounds. Even otherwise, the mere fact that the candidate has had a political background may not be a sufficient reason in all cases," the Collegium said in its resolution while rejecting the Centre's input. The Collegium on March 12 recommended the names of six advocates including that of Madhavan for appointment as judges of the Kerala High Court.Madhavan belongs to Scheduled Caste community and has 35 reported judgments to his credit. However, the Department of Justice of the Union Law Ministry objected to his elevation.It said,“Manoj Pulamby Madhavan is considered to be a CPI(M) sympathizer. He was appointed as Government Pleader in 2010 and 2016-2021 by the LDF Government.”The Collegium responded to the same by saying that the assertion that Madhavan “is considered to be a CPI(M) sympathizer” is extremely vague. "Similarly, that he was appointed as a Government Pleader in 2010 and 2016-2021 by the LDF Government does not constitute a valid ground to reject his candidature," the Collegium said..As a matter of fact, the appointment of the candidate as a Government Pleader would indicate that he would have acquired sufficient experience in handling cases where the State is a party in diverse branches of law, the resolution by the judges' body underscored.Specifically on the allegation of past political background of the candidate, the Collegium highlighted that in the recent past, a lawyer had been appointed as a judge of a High Court though she was an office bearer of a political party prior to her elevation."For example, in the recent past, an advocate has been appointed as a Judge of the High Court though she was an office bearer of a political party prior to her elevation," the resolution stated.The Collegium was hinting at the elevation of Justice L Victoria Gowri as a Madras High Court judge. Justice Gowri was affiliated to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when she was a lawyer before she was elevated to the Madras High Court.The Collegium had even then turned down arguments based on political background as a disqualification to be a judge. .Some of the consultee judges never had the opportunity to directly evaluate his performance, but the overall opinion was positive, the Collegium noted..[Read Order]