The Supreme Court Collegium has yet again deferred its decision to reiterate recommendation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph’s name to the Centre despite already deciding to do so in its previous meeting.
In its last meeting on 11th May, the collegium comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and four other senior-most Supreme Court judges had decided in principle to recommend Justice Joseph’s name to the Centre once again, but it had adopted a resolution to defer the proposal until it could deliberate upon elevation of other judges as well.
The central government had in April asked the collegium to reconsider elevation of Uttarakhand HC Chief Justice Joseph, which had sparked off allegations that his promotion was being stalled because of his order last year that had resulted in President’s rule being vacated from Uttarakhand.
Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad had rejected this allegation and had explained that the Centre was opposing Justice Joseph’s elevation because Kerala HC, to which he originally belongs, is already well represented in the apex court and that there were other judges who deserved promotion first because of their seniority.
Although the government had opposed Justice Joseph’s name, it had not opposed the collegium’s recommendation to elevate of senior advocate Indu Malhotra, who has, consequently, become a Supreme Court judge now.