NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India NV Ramana’s move to clear 68 names for elevation as judges in 12 high courts across the country is not only a record in itself, but also a reiteration of several names despite the Centre’s objection. It will be interesting to see what happens next. According to the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), the collegium’s reiteration over a name is binding on the government. So, the onus is now on the Centre to pave way for the appointments.
The Supreme Court collegium reiterated the name of advocate Amitesh Banerjee, son of former SC judge Justice UC Banerjee, for elevation as judge at Calcutta High Court. His father, Justice Banerjee, had headed the probe panel set up by the then UPA government in 2004 to rule out any foul play in the 2002 Sabarmati Express fire in Godhra, which triggered violent communal riots in Gujarat.
Last week, the Centre had sent back files of 14 names recommended by the collegium for five high courts. Two of them were sent back a second time, disregarding the fact that they were sent again by the collegium for consideration.
According to a resolution, uploaded on the top court’s website on Friday night, four names were cleared for Calcutta High Court, including Amitesh, two for Jammu and Kashmir and one for Rajasthan and two for Karnataka. The collegium is yet to take a decision on four names related to the Delhi High Court and one for Kerala High Court.
While the list related to Calcutta HC that was sent back had five names in it, the collegium has reiterated only four. The resolution does not make note of the collegium’s decision regarding the fifth name. These five names were cleared by the SC collegium in July 2019.
Similarly, one of the two names for Karnataka High Court has been reiterated for a second time, indicating the firm approach being adopted by the collegium. The lone name reiterated for Rajasthan High Court was among the two recommendations sent by the collegium in July, 2019. While the government had notified the appointment of one in November 2019, it chose to send back the other.