In an unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court (SC) collegium has forwarded the names of two prominent SC senior lawyers for appointment as judges of the apex court. Sources in the Government said the names of Gopal Subramaniam and Rohington Nariman came up for discussion in the Cabinet Committee of Appointments that met on Tuesday to decide on crucial appointments. Both have served as Solicitor-Generals in the UPA Government’s tenure.
Gopal was Solicitor- General between June 15, 2009 and July 14, 2011. He abruptly quit following the Government’s decision to replace him in the 2G case with RF Nariman. With his resignation, Nariman was brought in as Solicitor-General on July 23, 2011. But even he did not complete his tenure as he put in his papers on February 4, 2013 following differences with the then law Minister Ashwini Kumar.
Official sources said that the collegium further had recommended two other names for appointment as judges of the top court. They are Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Chief Justice of Orissa High Court and Justice Arun Mishra, Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. The four names will require formal approval by the Government and a warrant of appointment issued by the President.
The names of Subramaniam and Nariman had been doing the rounds for elevation as judges for quite some time. But this is the first time two members of the bar have been together selected for appointment to the highest court.
In the past, members of the Bar have been elevated as judges of the High Courts. But it is rare that lawyers have been elevated as SC judges. There is only one precedent in the past when the SC collegium had decided in 1999 to elevate practicing lawyer N Santosh Hegde as judge of the apex court. Incidentally, Justice Hegde had also served as a Solicitor-General prior to his appointment.
The collegium comprising CJI and four senior-most judges of the SC had taken an urgent decision to recommend the four names as consensus had built around clearing the backlog of vacancies in the SC. Three SC judges retired at the start of the summer break last week preceded by the retirement of former CJI P Sathasivam and Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra in the last week of April.
The actual strength of judges in SC is 31. If the four names come through, the working strength of judges in SC will increase to 29. With the reopening of court in July, this number is expected to come down to 27 as two more judges will be ending their tenure in the top court.