SC Collegium recommendation for elevation of Indu Malhotra, KM Joseph rejected by Centre: Report

The Central government has reportedly rejected the Supreme Court collegium recommendation to elevate senior advocate Indu Malhotra and Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph as judges of the apex court.

The Union Law Ministry has sent back the recommendations to the Chief Justice of India without forwarding them to President Ram Nath Kovind for issuing warrants of appointment, reported The New Indian Express.

A report said that the reason is unclear as of now. 

The recommendation was sent to the ministry on January 22,  by the collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, amid an ongoing tussle in the top court which had come into fore after the unprecedented January 12 press conference by four senior-most judges there.

Besides the CJI, the collegium comprises of four senior-most judges of the top court -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- who had held the press conference highlighting various issues, including allocation of important and sensitive PILs, and questioned the manner in which the CJI was allocating them.

The name of Justice Joseph, who was part of the bench which in 2016 had quashed the imposition of President's Rule in the state, was cleared for elevation to the apex court in a collegium meeting held on January 10.

Justice Joseph was appointed as Permanent Judge of the Kerala High Court in 2004 and later transferred to Uttarakhand High Court where he assumed charge in 2014 as Chief Justice.