The Supreme Court collegium had recommended Calcutta High Court judge Justice Aniruddha Bose’s elevation as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. The Centre, however, has returned the recommendation for reconsideration. After a five-month long wait, the centre finally expressed its desire for the SC to reconsider the decision.
The Delhi High Court has been functioning without a chief justice after Justice G Rohini’s retirement in April 2017. Currently, Justice Gita Mittal is serving as the acting chief justice.
Law ministry sources have stated that the government had no reservations on Justice Bose but wanted the collegium to reconsider its decision. The reconsideration of the decision is rooted in two basic constructs. Firstly, the Delhi HC is a premier HC which handles important and complicated questions of law. Secondly, the court has always been headed by a seasoned and experienced judge who already has been a CJ of another High Court.
“We have no particular choice in mind for Delhi HC. We have only pointed to the primacy enjoyed by Delhi HC and requested the collegium to reconsider keeping these two parameters in mind,” a ministry source stated.
According to the centre, the elevation of Justice Bose as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court will be again taken up by the Supreme Court collegium, which has a new member — Justice A K Sikri. The other members of the collegium include Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph.
Justice Joseph’s candidature was also subjected to rejection by the Centre in April this year, noting that it would “not be fair and justified to other more senior, suitable and deserving Chief Justices and senior Puisne Judges of various High Courts.”
The government had recently stalled the elevation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph to the Supreme Court citing seniority and regional representation.