The Supreme Court Collegium on Wednesday told the central government to speed up pending appointments of judges and told it not to overlook names recommended for elevation. Voicing concern over the delay, it said withholding or overlooking reiterated names disturbed the seniority of judges.
The collegium said this was a matter of grave concern and told the Centre to take action at the earliest on clearing pending appointments. “It’s a matter of grave concern as withholding names recommended earlier disturbs seniority,” it said.
The collegium, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, asked the government to take “necessary action” for elevation of those recommended earlier. It said a notification for the elevation of persons recommended earlier in point of time should be issued at the earliest.
According to a report published by news agency PTI, the collegium – comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph – voiced its concern in a resolution dated March 21 in which it recommended the names of four district judges for appointment as judges of the Madras High Court. It recommended the names of R Sakthivel, P Dhanabal, Chinnasamy Kumarappan and K Rajasekar.
“Dated 17 January 2023, the Collegium of the Supreme Court recommended the appointment of Shri Ramaswamy Neelakandan, advocate practising before the Madras High Court, as a judge of the high court. As on March 31, 2023, Shri Ramaswamy Neelakandan was 48.07 years of age while Shri K Rajasekar on that date was 47.09 years of age. Shri Neelakandan, who is a member of the Bar, has been recommended earlier in point of time and must be appointed before Shri Rajasekar is appointed. Otherwise, Shri Rajasekar, who is a judicial officer and younger than Shri Neelakandan, would rank senior to Shri Neelakandan. Such a deviation in seniority would be unfair and against the settled convention,” the resolution stated.
The collegium said while recommending Rajasekar’s name for elevation, it was of the view that his appointment should be notified after Neelakandan’s appointment was notified.
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