NEW DELHI: In a development that could trigger a fresh tussle between the judiciary and the executive, the government has returned to the Supreme Court collegium yet another recommendation for appointment. According to sources, the Law Ministry rejected the proposed elevation of Calcutta High Court judge Aniruddha Bose as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
Sources said the government wants the collegium to reconsider its recommendation since the Delhi High Court is a prominent seat of law and Justice Bose does not have the experience of serving as chief justice of any other high court in the past.
The problem is not with his elevation as Chief Justice; it’s with his lack of enough exposure to head a prominent seat of law like the Delhi High Court, senior government officials told The New Indian Express.
“Justice Bose’s file was sent back to the collegium last month. The government is in favour of him being appointed as chief justice of a high court. But since the Delhi High Court is a prominent seat, and since Justice Bose has not headed any other high court in the past, the government does not think the recommendation was correct,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.
Legal circles, however, panned the decision, citing earlier instances of judges being directly elevated as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court without having headed any other high court. In September 2013, current Supreme Court judge Justice N V Ramana was appointed as the Delhi High Court Chief Justice without having headed any other high court. Likewise, Justice G Rohini, who was a puisne judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court, became the first woman Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in April 2014. The Delhi High Court has been without a full-time Chief Justice for more than a year with Justice Gita Mittal functioning as the Acting Chief Justice since April 2017.
Different yardsticks
Govt says Delhi HC head ought to be someone who was CJ another HC before. But justices Ramana and Rohini became Delhi HC heads without prior CJ experience. Why different yardsticks?