NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Centre for its inordinate delay in clearing various collegium recommendations for the appointment and transfer of high court judges.
A bench of judges S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to get the government’s view on this, adding it would take up the issue every 10 days till some progress is made.
“There were 80 recommendations pending until last week when 10 names were cleared. Now, the figure is 70, of which 26 recommendations are of transfer of judges, seven are reiterations, nine are pending without being returned to the collegium, and one case is of appointment of the Chief Justice to a sensitive high court,” the bench said. It added that the delay leads to loss of talent for the judiciary because candidates withdraw their consent.
"I thought of saying a lot, but since the attorney general is only seeking seven days' time, I’m holding myself. Today, I am quiet... The next time I will not be quiet. Use your good office to see these issues are resolved,” Justice Kaul told Venkataramani.
The observation came during the hearing of a petition filed by the Advocates Association of Bengaluru seeking contempt action against the Union Ministry of Law and Justice for not adhering to the timeline set
by the court in a 2021 judgment.
Senior Advocate Arvind Datar, representing the petitioner, said delays in the appointment of judges were not only detrimental to the judiciary but also embarrassing for the candidates involved.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for another petitioner NGO Common Cause, told the court that 16 names reiterated by the collegium are pending before the Centre. He said many advocates have withdrawn their consent for judgeship in view of the delay in appointments. “So many recommendations are pending. This can’t go on forever,” Bhushan said.