Plea challenges selection process of Gujarat HC judges

A petition has been filed before Gujarat high court challenging the selection process of judges for the high court. The petition says that the existing system is non-transparent, arcane and full of
political interference.

The petition has been filed by lawyer Asim Pandya whose name had been recommended for high court judge post in 2009 but later he was not appointed as a judge. Pandya has made the Union of India, Supreme Court, Gujarat high court, and the state of Gujarat as respondents in the petition.

\Pandya said the reason for non-appointment should be communicated to the candidate concerned who had expressed his readiness to become a judge upon an invitation from chief justice of the high court.

"It is a matter of great dismay that the procedure for appointment to such a high constitutional post does not even envisage sending of a formal written communication of non-appointment to the candidate. Such procedure is, therefore, inherently obnoxious and most retrograde from the point of view of human dignity of the recommended candidate and hence violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution," he said.

However, when the petition came up for hearing on Thursday, a bench consisting of acting chief justice AL Dave and justice JB Pardiwala recused itself by saying 'not before me'. The matter is likely to be assigned some other bench.

Pandya, a practising lawyer in the high court, stated in the petition that after intense deliberations and with full humility he was constrained to challenge the present system of appointment to the higher judiciary. He also questioned some legal and constitutional points in his petition.

"The absence of transparency in the entire procedure for appointment to the higher judicial posts is against public good," he said in the plea. It further stated, "The dubious benefits of the closed-door considerations and deliberations are far outweighed by the large public good which will be served by ensuring that all relevant information is available at all times to all the participants in the process."

According to the petition, Pandya was invited and his name was recommended in 2009 along with seven other candidates by then chief justice of Gujarat, justice KS Radhkrishnan. The appointment of six judges was made in February this year. However, after he filed his candidature, he never knew what happened during the process. Even after appointment of six judges, he was not communicated the reasons for his non-appointment.

He further said, "Once the Governor of the state approves the recommendation made by the chief justice of the high court, the Central government cannot meddle with the opinion of the Governor and give an opinion contrary to the opinion of the Governor. It should be binding to the Central government."