Govt asks SC collegium to reconsider recommendation on Joseph
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New Delhi: The government today returned to the Supreme Court collegium its recommendation to elevate Justice KM Joseph to the apex court and asked it to reconsider it, a move which may widen rift between the judiciary and the executive.
This comes a day after the government cleared the appointment of senior advocate Indu Malhotra as a judge of the Supreme Court and kept in abeyance a decision on Joseph, who heads the Uttarakhand High Court. Both the names were recommended by the collegium in January.
In a ruling in 2016, Justice Joseph had cancelled President's rule in Uttarakhand and brought back the Congress government of Harish Rawat to power. The judgement was seen as major set back to the BJP-ruled government at the Centre.
The government's decision of not approving Joseph's name has evoked sharp reactions with the Supreme Court Bar Association President terming it as "disturbing".
Bar Association President Advocate Vikas Singh on Thursday praised Indu Malhotra even as he added that there was no way by which Justice KM Joseph’s name should not have been cleared.
“Indu Malhotra is a fine lawyer & she will prove to be a great judge. I have huge reservation at the attitude of the government, there is no way by which they should not have cleared Justice KM Joseph’s name,” Singh said. “By making one appointment and not making another, the govt has interfered in functioning of the judiciary. This is a very serious matter and should be taken up with the government very strongly,” he added.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra this morning requesting the collegium, a group of five senior-most judges that selects judges for the apex court, to reconsider its decision on recommending Justice Joseph to be a judge of the top court.
Prasad's letter to the CJI came after the appointment of senior advocate Malhotra a judge of the Supreme Court, which also he mentioned in the letter.