In a move that will avoid an immediate confrontation with the Centre, the Supreme Court Collegium on Wednesday deferred its decision to reconsider the name of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph for elevation as a judge of the apex court. The Collegium meeting was considered crucial as the Centre had returned Justice Joseph’s name on account of seniority.
The Kerala High Court is the parent High Court of Justice Joseph, who is ranked number 45 in the inter-seniority among judges on all-India basis.
The Centre pointed out that already the Kerala HC is represented in the apex court while many High Courts are unrepresented. Regional representation was another reason for the Centre to seek reconsideration of Collegium’s decision.
All the five judges, including Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B lokur and Kurian Joseph, took part in the meeting held a little while after normal business of the court ended at 4 pm. Justice Chelameswar did not hold court but was present in the Collegium meeting.
The Collegium discussed threadbare the note sent by the Union law Ministry on April 26 and April 30 while returning the file relating to the recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph as apex court judge. The judges could not come to any conclusion and decided to defer its decision to the next date.
In addition to Justice Joseph’s name, the Collegium also considered names of Judges from Calcutta, Rajasthan, and Telangana and Andhra Pradesh High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, in keeping with the Centre’s assertion to have fair representation of all regions in the top court. The law Ministry had even stressed on SC/ST representation in the top judiciary that did not figure in the discussions held on Wednesday.
Justice Joseph’s name was sent along with that of senior advocate Indu Malhotra on January 10 for elevation to the Supreme Court. The Centre segregated both names, declined the recommendation of Justice Joseph and sought reconsideration by the Collegium while clearing the decks for appointment of Malhotra, who was since sworn in as the Judge of the apex court on April 27.
Justice Joseph was in news for passing the verdict quashing the Narendra Modi Government’s decision to impose President’s rule in the hill State of Uttarakhand in 2016. With this order, the Congress Government was brought back to power. This decision was later upheld by the apex court too.
Justice Joseph will turn 60 this June and has another two more years as Chief Justice of High Court. His elevation to the Supreme Court will add three more years to his tenure. He was appointed a permanent judge of the Kerala High Court on October 14, 2004 and assumed charge of the Uttarakhand High Court on July 31, 2014.