SC fumes at Centre over delay in judges' appointment, says keeping names on hold 'unacceptable'

The Supreme Court hit out at the Centre on Friday over delay in the appointment of judges. The court said keeping names on hold is "unacceptable". It said that it will not launch contempt proceedings, but issued a notice to the Union law secretary seeking an explanation on the same.

"Our orders have been breached on many occasions. (We) don't intend to issue a contempt notice. Total of 11 names approved by the collegium are still pending before Centre. One of the names was approved by the collegium in September 2021," the Supreme Court said in its order.

Hitting out at the Centre, it said, "The Centre is neither approving the names nor communicating reasons for withholding approval...Keeping names on hold is unacceptable. The government is yet to communicate its stand and (inform about) reservations if any."

The Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Chandrachud have six judges instead of five till May 15, 2023. The CJI and Justices SK Kaul, SA Nazeer, KM Joseph, MR Shah and Sanjiv Khanna form the collegium. The sixth member of the Collegium, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, is slated to succeed Justice Chandrachud as the CJI in 2024.