New Delhi: Regarding appointing four new judges to the Supreme court, two collegium members have objected to a letter sent by Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit, Economic Times reported.
While four of the five-member judge selection body, Justices DY Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Abdul Nazir and KM Joseph, cleared the CJI's proposal to appoint three sitting high court chief justices and a senior advocate practising in the top court.
The objecting two judges are citing the one month from retirement rule to prevent the Collegium's approval of Lalit's proposal. During the ex-CJI NV Ramana's term, Lalit had used the same rule to prevent Collegium's approval to fill two vacancies in the SC.
Justice Lalit is to retire on November 8, therefore, he will not be able to hold Collegium meetings to deliberate and reach a consensus on names he recommended to fill the vacancies after October 8 since the one-month rule.
Also, the SC will reopen only on October 10, and by that time, Lalit could not put forward the proposal inside its meeting.
In a written reply to Justice Lalit's letter, the objecting members said that appointment to the high constitutional office and as judges of the highest court should never be made through circulation. They noted that filling vacancies in the top court must be done through deliberations.
The CJI sent the proposal on September 29 after the Collegium meeting got aborted due to a huge number of cases listed for one of the judges.
Further, some of the Collegium members disapprove of elevating a senior advocate to the post of judge in the SC. Their view is that it could shrink the chances of HC judges, who have more than a decade of experience in constitutional courts, to reach the CJI's position. Further, the said advocate would become CJI in 2030 if the proposal to elevate him is approved.