The decision on Justice Joseph triggered a political slugfest between the government and the Opposition and also drew strong reactions from the Bar.
Escalating its confrontation with the judiciary, the Centre asked the Supreme Court Collegium on Thursday to reconsider its proposal to appoint Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph to the top court. The government, however, cleared senior advocate Indu Malhotra's elevation to the Supreme Court. The decision on Justice Joseph triggered a political slugfest between the government and the Opposition and also drew strong reactions from the Bar.
The Centre's reluctance to elevate Justice Joseph had already come in public domain when it kept the Collegium's nomination in abeyance for over three months. Experts believe his elevation was blocked in retaliation to his 2016 judgment that quashed the President's rule in Uttarakhand and revived the Congress-led Harish Rawat's government.
In a letter to CJI Dipak Misra, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Justice Joseph is 'No. 42 on the all-India seniority list', and that 'there are 11 Chief Justices senior to him.' But keeping in view the seniority list of Chief Justices of High Courts from the date of elevation, Justice Joseph tops the list.
He was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court on July 31, 2014.
Prasad said that there was adequate representation from Justice Joseph's parent High Court Kerala.
He said the High Courts of Calcutta, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Manipur and Meghalaya are unrepresented in the apex court.
He also defended segregating the Collegiums proposal. "The government has been constrained to segregate the recommendation of the Supreme Court. Such segregation of proposals has been done in many cases earlier, which include the appointment of judges to various HCs and even the SC in the interest of expeditious action on appointments," Prasad wrote to CJI Misra.
Congress accused the BJP-led government of interfering in the judiciary. Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, "The law is quite clear. Only the Collegium will decide the appointments, but the government is bent upon ignoring its recommendations, keeping them pending and not appointing anyone not to its liking." "India's judiciary is in danger and the democracy will be endangered unless our judiciary defends its independence in one voice and says enough is enough," he said.
Prasad hit back at Congress and said the party has no moral authority because it has a "record" of meting out "unfair treatment" to the judiciary. "The whole record of the Congress party is littered with instances of superceding judges who were found to be inconvenient... the legendary judge HR Khanna who gave the dissenting judgment during Emergency and upheld the freedom of Indians was denied the post of Chief Justice even for two months and was superceded by a junior," he said.
Sources here told DNA that the segregation has upset many judges. The Collegium had recommended the elevation of Malhotra and Justice Joseph in a single proposal sent to the Law Ministry in January.
Vikas Singh, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) also termed the government move "disturbing". A delegation of 100 advocates also moved a representation before CJI Misra seeking a stay on the move elevating Malhotra.
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He was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court on July 31, 2014.
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