New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium recommended four judges for appointment as judges in Madras High Court. The collegium is recommending to the Centre the names to the high court for the first time, and the names recommended for the elevation are R Sakthivel, P Dhanabal, Chinnasamy Kumparappan and K Rajasekar, NDTV reported.
The collegium further told the Centre to notify the names of R John Sathyan and Ramaswamy Neelakandan, two names the collegium gave in its previous recommendation for the high court.
The court said that the names which it has already recommended and reiterated must not be withheld or overlooked, citing that any delay disturbs the seniority of candidates.
In a communication to the Centre, the collegium said, "The names which have been recommended earlier in point of time including the reiterated names ought not to be withheld or overlooked as this disturbs their seniority whereas those recommended later steal a march on them. Loss of seniority of candidates recommended earlier in point of time has been noted by the collegium and is a matter of grave concern," NDTV quoted.
The Centre has not cleared the names of R John Sathyan and Ramaswamy Neelakandan. Since the two names were not returned by the Centre, the collegium could not reiterate their names.
In the communication, the collegium mentioned later that the recommended four judges were given clearance by the Intelligence Bureau assessment and the collegium decided that they were fit for the appointment.
There is a sour match going on between the judiciary and the executive over the issue of judicial appointments after the government wanted a larger role in the same.