In a blow to the Supreme Court collegium, the Centre has blocked the recommendations to appoint Uttarakhand high court Chief Justice KM Joseph as a judge of the SC and Justice Surya Kant of Punjab and Haryana HC as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh high court on the grounds of “breach of seniority,” reports the Times of India.
The names of the Justices were recommended by the collegium to the Centre on 10 January – two days before four sitting judges of the Supreme Court called an unprecedented press conference to criticise the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra.
At the time, the CJI-headed collegium had said “(Justice K M Joseph) is more deserving and suitable in all respects than other chief justices and senior judges of the high courts for being appointed as SC judge”.
However, the Centre is of the view that Justice KM Joseph is “too junior”.
On the other hand, the appointment of Justice Surya Kant as chief justice of Himachal HC, has sparked a controversy with sitting and retired SC judges terming this a “clear case of favouritism achieved through unjust supersession of Justice AK Mittal, who is senior to Justice Kant”, reports TOI.
As per the report, former SC judge Justice Ashok Bhan has written to the government, slamming the collegium for recommending Justice Mittal over other senior judges. Justice Bhan’s letter is based on a 2003 Intelligence Bureau report when Justice Mittal was being considered for appointment as a judge of Punjab and Haryana HC. He has accused the present collegium of playing favourites.
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