The Centre has reportedly returned 19 of at least 20 pending recommendations by the Supreme Court Collegium for the appointment of high court judges. The Indian Express reported that ten of these 19 recommendations were pending after they were reiterated by the Collegium and nine were pending after the first recommendation.
It was
reported that the recommendations were sent back hours before the
Supreme Court hearing on judicial appointments on November 28.
However, according to a PTI report, the government had sent back 20 files to the collegium on November 25. It said that the government while expressing "strong reservations" about the recommended names, had asked the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider 20 files related to the appointment of high court judges.
Out of the 20 cases, 11 were fresh cases and nine were reiterations made by the top court collegium, sources told PTI. "The government has returned all the names related to fresh appointments in various high courts on which it had "differences" with the Supreme Court Collegium," the sources said.
Recently, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said two recommendations were accepted, leading to the appointment of Santosh Govind Chapalgaonkar and Milind Manohar Sathaye as Additional Judges of the Bombay High Court.
Centre Vs Supreme Court
The government and the judiciary have time and again been at loggerheads over the collegium system under which the judges appoint judges.
On November 28, the Supreme Court expressed anguish over the delay by the Centre in clearing the names recommended by the collegium for appointment as judges in the higher judiciary. The bench had said that it "effectively frustrates" the method of appointment.
"It appears to me, I would say, the unhappiness of the government of the fact that NJAC ( National Judicial Appointments Commission) does not pass the muster," Justice Kaul observed. "That cannot be a reason not to comply with the law of the land," he said.
"Once the Collegium reiterates a name, it is the end of the chapter," the bench noted, adding, there cannot be a situation where recommendations are being made and the government keeps sitting on them as this frustrates the system. It said some names are pending with the government for a year and a half.
The Supreme Court struck down the NJAC Act and the Constitution (99th Amendment) Act, 2014 in its 2015 verdict. This led to the revival of the Collegium system of existing judges appointing judges to constitutional courts.
Kiren Rijiju's statement triggers row, Harish Salve reacts
Speaking at the Times Now Summit, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had said the collegium system is "alien" to the Constitution.
The minister said the Constitution of India is a "religious document" for everyone, especially the government, and "anything which is alien to the Constitution merely because of the decision taken by the courts or some judges, how do you expect that the decision will be backed by the country".
"You tell me under which provision the collegium system has been prescribed?" he asked. He said this while noting that before 1991 all judges were appointed by the government.
Recently, the Supreme Court had asked how the government chose to appoint Arun Goel as Election Commissioner, to which Rijiju had said that a similar question could be asked on the appointment of judges through the collegium, Bar and Bench reported.
At the same time, he said the government will "very well respect" the collegium system until or unless it is replaced by a better mechanism.
Responding to Rijiju's statement, Senior Advocate Harish Salve said the law minister had crossed the 'Lakshman Rekha'. "The law minister crossed the Lakshman Rekha by what he said in my opinion. If he thinks that the Supreme Court must hold its hand when it sees a brazenly unconstitutional law and be hostage to the government's kindness to amend that law, sorry that's wrong," he was quoted by the Bar and Bench as saying.
