The Supreme Court of India today gave an indication that it will finalise the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) soon..As reported by PTI, a Bench presided by Chief Justice Khehar remarked that it will finalise the MoP “maybe within this month”..This remark came in a petition filed by one Satya Veer Sharma seeking consideration of trial court lawyers for appointment to higher judiciary..It has been more than a year since the Supreme Court left it to the Central government to finalise the MoP..On December 16, 2016, the Constitution Bench, which had struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission had ordered that it is leaving the task of preparing the MoP to the Central government. The Central government was required to amend the existing MoP in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. The CJI, in turn, was required to consult the Collegium in this regard..The Court had also given a series of broad suggestions for the Government to consider while amending the MoP..Despite all these, the Centre and the Supreme Court have not been able to reach a consensus regarding the MoP with the Supreme Court opposing a number of a number of proposals made by the Centre including the government’s right to reject any recommendation made by the Collegium on the grounds of ‘national interest’. The Collegium had also rejected another proposal regarding involvement of the Attorney General in suggesting candidates.
The Supreme Court of India today gave an indication that it will finalise the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) soon..As reported by PTI, a Bench presided by Chief Justice Khehar remarked that it will finalise the MoP “maybe within this month”..This remark came in a petition filed by one Satya Veer Sharma seeking consideration of trial court lawyers for appointment to higher judiciary..It has been more than a year since the Supreme Court left it to the Central government to finalise the MoP..On December 16, 2016, the Constitution Bench, which had struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission had ordered that it is leaving the task of preparing the MoP to the Central government. The Central government was required to amend the existing MoP in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. The CJI, in turn, was required to consult the Collegium in this regard..The Court had also given a series of broad suggestions for the Government to consider while amending the MoP..Despite all these, the Centre and the Supreme Court have not been able to reach a consensus regarding the MoP with the Supreme Court opposing a number of a number of proposals made by the Centre including the government’s right to reject any recommendation made by the Collegium on the grounds of ‘national interest’. The Collegium had also rejected another proposal regarding involvement of the Attorney General in suggesting candidates.
