Supreme Court lays down guidelines, timeline for judicial appointments to High Courts

ILNS: The Supreme Court on Tuesday called on the central government to expedite the process as it faced the Indian judiciary’s challenge in delaying the appointment of judicial officers to various high courts.

The court found that many of the names recommended for nomination by various high courts have been pending in the government for some time.

“We discussed the above extensively while dealing with the aspect of the appointment of ad hoc judges under Article 224A of the Constitution of India in WP (C) No. 1236/2019. Due to the separate ordinance on the above matter passed today, we have also discussed the appointment process under Articles 217 and 224 of the Constitution of India. ”

-the court found.

“The high courts are in a crisis situation. There are nearly 40 percent vacancies in the high courts, with many of the larger high courts operating below 50 percent of their sanctioned strength. ”

-observed the court.

In order to facilitate the larger cause of the timely judicial repeal, the Bank of the Supreme Court Justice of India, SA Bobde, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and Justice Surya Kant set the following schedule for the appointment of Supreme Court judges:

1. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) should submit its report (s) to the central government within 4 to 6 weeks from the date of the recommendation by the High Court Collegium.

2. It would be desirable for the central government to forward the files / recommendations to the Supreme Court within 8 to 12 weeks after receipt of the statements of the state government and the report / input from the IB.

3. It would be for the government to proceed with the appointment immediately after the foregoing consideration, and undoubtedly if the government has any qualifications or public interest reservations, it may be returned to the College of the Supreme Court within the same period with the specifics Reasons recorded for the reservation.

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If, after examining the above submissions, the College of the Supreme Court still unanimously reiterates the recommendation (s), that appointment should be processed and the appointment made within 3 to 4 weeks.

The decision fell on a petition filed in 2019 seeking the transfer of the matter from the Orissa Supreme Court to the Supreme Court as the judicial system in different parts of Odisha had stalled due to the lawyers’ strike there.

The Court reiterated the request by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Courts to make every effort to recommend vacancies as early as possible.

“We can’t, but be aware of the importance of ensuring that the chief judges of the high courts make recommendations in a timely manner. The vacancies are known and the standards allow recommendations to be made up to six months in advance. “

After the High Court Collegium’s recommendation was given, the Court recommended that the appointment process be completed within a total of six months, if all parties are on the same page.

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Judges’ bank Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph highlighted in their earlier decision of January 10, 2020 that the judicial appointment process is collaborative in nature.

“With regard to the process of appointing high court judges, we believe that all parties involved should stop looking at shadows, the process is collaborative and the aim should be to improve the situation by shortening the time frames.”

-it said.

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