SC collegium endorses two for elevation

The Supreme Court collegium has sent the Centre names of two candidates — Senior Advocate Indu Malhotra and Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph — as recommendations for elevation to the top court.

The Collegium’s move comes amid the greatest crisis faced by Indian judiciary, triggered by a press conference held by four senior judges where they bared their anguish at the alleged breach of institutional integrity by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

Malhotra and Chief Justice KM Joseph’s name first cropped up as candidates on January 11, a day before the press conference.  

Malhotra would become the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a judge of SC, sources said. Justice Joseph, on the other hand, was part of the bench in 2016 that had quashed the imposition of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand.