Appointment of Manipur HC CJ to be notified soon, Centre tells apex court
The government told a bench of Justices S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia that the file has been cleared and the rest of the process will follow soon.
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The court will now hear the matter on October 20. THE CENTRE on Monday told the Supreme Court that the notification for appointment of a new Chief Justice of Manipur High Court will be issued shortly.
The government told a bench of Justices S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia that the file has been cleared and the rest of the process will follow soon.
The bench was hearing two petitions filed by the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and another by an NGO seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Centre for alleged delay in deciding on the recommendations of the Supreme Court Collegium in the matter of appointment and transfer of judges.
Hearing the matter on September 26, the apex court had flagged its concerns over pendency of the recommendations, including the one on July 6 to appoint Delhi High Court judge Justice Siddharth Mridul as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.
On Monday, Attorney General R Venkatraramani submitted a note to the court which said that 14 of the 26 pending files for transfer of High Court judges have been cleared while the rest are being processed.
Justice Kaul said the Law Ministry had forwarded to the Supreme Court Collegium names sent by the High Court Collegium, adding: “So in that respect there is no pendency. So far as CJ of Manipur HC is concerned, they said they will shortly issue a notice. So far as transfer is concerned, they have sought some time.”
He said that 70 names pending before the ministry starting from November 2022 have landed before the collegium. “We are processing them and will try to finish them before October vacation. Will have to speak with consultee judges,” he said.
Justice Kaul said the government may have reservations on some of the names which are then examined and processed by the Supreme Court Collegium. Where the government has raised an objection and the Collegium overrules it, the government has a right to send it back, he said. “If the names have been sent back but the names have been reiterated, then appointment must take place,” he said.
Senior Advocate Arvind P Datar and Advocate Prashanth Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners, suggested that the court should treat reiterated names as deemed appointments.
But the court said that the AG won’t be able to convince the government to do that and added that there are bound to be practical complications as well. “How does a deemed appointment work? There has to be notification to be issued by the Government of India. There are practical complications,” he said.
The court will now hear the matter on October 20.
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