From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Centre has not cleared appointments recommended by the Supreme Court collegium a month ago to elevate Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Gupta to the Supreme Court and transfer of Orissa High Court chief justice S Muralidhar as the chief justice of Madras High Court.
The delay has caused an uneasiness in the judiciary since it has reignited the charge of the Centre adopting a “pick and choose” policy on the judges. At the time, several previous recommendations made by the collegium were still pending, buttressing the allegations of a pick-and-choose policy.
perception is also growing in the Bar and among the judiciary that the collegium’s perceived reluctance to assert itself facilitates the government’s practice of withholding appointments or clearing them in instalments, depriving some judges of their seniority.
The collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit and the next four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court had recommended Justice Datta’s elevation to the Supreme Court in a unanimous resolution on September 27.
Justice Datta had been appointed a permanent judge of Calcutta High Court on June 22, 2006, and was later elevated as Bombay High Court chief justice on April 28, 2020.
Madras High Court is bigger than Orissa High Court, and Justice Muralidhar’s transfer there will also improve his chances of being recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court.
Justice Muralidhar had on February 26, 2020, as head of a two-judge bench of Delhi High Court, come down heavily on the Centre, which controls Delhi police, for its inaction against those who made inflammatory speeches ahead of the Delhi riots that week.
The bench was dealing with a petition moved by former bureaucrat Harsh Mander who had accused BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra and others of delivering inflammatory speeches. Justice Muralidhar gave the Centre a 24-hour ultimatum to come out with its stance on whether it intended to register an FIR against the alleged provocateurs.
But before the judge could pass further directions, the Centre came out with a notification on February 27, 2020, transferring him along with the three other judges.
Many activists saw this as a consequence of Justice Muralidhar’s order the previous day, while then Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad cited the February 12, 2020, collegium recommendation for the transfer and accused the Opposition of unnecessarily politicising the matter.
For all its delays in clearing judges’ appointments, the Centre had earlier this year shown that it can approve the collegium’s recommendations in 48 hours if it wants.
