To delay is to deny: Kerala Advocate General criticises selective appointment of judges by Centre

Advocate General of Kerala (AG) and Senior Advocate K Gopalakrishna Kurup on Thursday criticised the delay by the Central government in notifying the appointment of judges who have been recommended for elevation by the Supreme Court collegium..The AG was speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of Justice MB Snehalatha whose appointment as an additional judge of the Kerala High Court was notified by the Central government 6 months after the collegium recommended the same. "Justice MB Snehalatha, an outstanding career judge, has just been sworn in as an additional judge of this honourable court after an illustrious tenure of almost 3 decades in the district judiciary. She ought to have been sworn in as an additional judge of this honourable court on October 10, 2023 - exactly six months ago- but for the widely disapproved and criticised segregation of collegium resolutions and selective appointment of judges of the constitutional courts by the Union executive. It is often said 'to delay is to deny'," he said. .In his address, AG Kurup pointed out that both the High Court and Supreme Court collegium had opined that Justice Snehalatha had an untarnished record as a judge of the district judiciary and would be suitable as judge of a constitutional court. He added that the assessment made by the Central government said that she enjoyed a good personal and professional image and that nothing adverse was noticed about her integrity. "The fact that a woman belonging to a historically oppressed class single-handedly strove hard to rise to the higher echelons of the judiciary also weighed in with the collegium in the matter of her consideration for elevation....Her lordship was found to be professionally competent and described as not compromising on integrity and assessed as suitable for elevation as a judge of this honourable court. What more is obligatory for elevation as a judge of a constitutional court?", he asked..The AG said that the Centre chose to notify the appointment of only three of the judicial officers whose elevation was recommended along with Justice Snehalatha's, "apparently for no sustainable reason". This happened even after selective appointments have been seriously frowned upon by the Supreme Court, he added. .The AG also said that the representation of women in the higher judiciary was dismal. With Justice Snehalatha's appointment, there are five women judges at the Kerala High Court. This, the AG said, is sadly not reflective of the gender ratio of this State. Kerala's female population exceeds its male population, a rarity in India.AG Kurup has spoken about this on earlier occasions as well and today, he reiterated his request to the judges to keep the issue in mind. "This is one matter, as I have said on many occasions before, that requires to gain the attention of my lords, the senior judges of this honourable court," he said..Justice Snehalatha's appointment was announced by the Ministry of Law and Justice through a notification dated April 19.The Supreme Court collegium had recommended her elevation on October 10, 2023.She was part of a group of five judicial officers who were recommended by the Supreme Court in its resolution.Three among the recommended judicial officers were appointed and sworn in as additional judges on October 25.Since then, six new judges were appointed in March this year.However, Justice Snehalatha's name was cleared for appointment only now, over 6 months later.One more judicial officer whose name was recommended in the October 10 notification, P Krishna Kumar, has not yet been cleared by the Centre for appointment. He is currently serving as the Registrar General of the Kerala High Court. The Collegium's recommendation for the elevation of advocate Sreeja Vijayalakshmi is also pending clearance by the Central government. In an apparent reference to this, the AG said,"I hope that the recommendations of the collegium for appointment as judges of this honourable court now pending with the Union executive come through very quickly"