Government may not resist KM Joseph’s nomination as Supreme Court judge

New Delhi: The Supreme Court believes that the government is unlikely to come in the way of appointing Uttarakhand chief justice KM Joseph as an SC judge on the basis of a unanimous reiteration by the collegium that included Justice Jasti Chelameswar, who subsequently retired.

Chelameswar retired on June 22, triggering speculation that the May 11 resolution reiterating the recommendation of Joseph’s appointment would need fresh endorsement on account of the reconstitution of the collegium.

Justice AK Sikri replaced Chelameswar in the collegium. Authoritative sources said the resolution, already signed, is valid and does not require a fresh reiteration or recommendation. The sanctity of the resolution signed by the five most senior judges, including the Chief Justice of India, cannot be and should not be questioned, people familiar with the matter told ET.

Once the resolution, already approved by the SC collegium, is received by the government, Justice Joseph’s appointment should be through, they said. The government has no intention of scuttling the appointment – plus, there are many precedents of clearing appointments despite changes in the collegium, the people said.

The SC collegium headed by CJI Dipak Misra on May 11 had “on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Mr Justice KM Joseph, Uttarakhand Chief Justice, as a judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated”. It also decided that the reiteration should be “accompanied by the recommendations of the names of chief justices of high courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court”.

The resolution, yet to be forwarded to the government, was signed by justices Misra, Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph, the five most senior SC judges.

The Modi government had returned the initial recommendation to promote Joseph to the Supreme Court in April, saying it does not appear to be appropriate. The government said there are other more senior deserving judges, the Kerala high court is already adequately represented in the apex court and judges from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes are absent. Joseph had quashed President’s rule in Uttarakhand in April 2016.

However, seniority would be an issue because the collegium has decided to forward more names of chief justices, along with the name of Justice Joseph, for elevation to the Supreme Court.

The names of four chief justices were considered by the SC collegium on May 16 – Vineet Saran of the Orissa High Court, Hemant Gupta of the Madhya Pradesh high court, Indira Banerjee of the Madras High Court, and R Subhash Reddy of the Gujarat high court.

“So, more than the notification, it depends on whom the SC collegium decides to administer oath of office first,” one of the people said.

The government had said in April that Joseph is ranked 42nd in seniority among all high court judges and that 11 high court chief justices are senior to him.

Separately, the law ministry has requested the collegium to reconsider its recommendation to appoint eight judges to the high courts of Madras, Calcutta, Punjab & Haryana, Gauhati, Allahabad and Bombay. However, sources said the reasons cited by the government may be insufficient and could trigger a fresh row.

Meanwhile, the government is unlikely to clear the elevation of Karnataka district and sessions judge Krishna Bhat, who is facing harassment allegations by a woman judicial officer, to the Karnataka high court. “Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has already written to the CJI, requesting him to look into the allegations...

The CJI has to decide the next course of action and not the government,” a source in the government told ET.

SC sources insisted that Bhat’s recommendation has already been reiterated and that the chief justice of the Karnataka high court has given him a “clean chit.”