Govt to send 120 names for judges’ vacant posts

THE NAMES ARE SENT BY HC COLLEGIUMS TO THE MINISTRY, WHICH DOES BACKGROUND CHECKS AND FORWARDS DETAILS TO THE SC COLLEGIUM FOR FINAL SELECTION

NEW DELHI: The law ministry is set to forward nearly 120 names shortlisted for appointments as high court judges to the Supreme Court collegium by the end of the week, a top official familiar with the development said on Thursday, as the government seeks to fill gaps in higher judiciary and also meet a target it has set for itself in terms of judicial appointments.

The Supreme Court collegium is a body of the country’s top judges, headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), which appoints judges; the ministry’s move would make this the biggest batch of recommendations forwarded to the Supreme Court (SC) collegium within a single week.

This effectively ends a sixmonth-long go-slow with regards to appointments that saw only 34 judges being appointed till the end of June .

For the 407 high court vacancies that currently exist, the law ministry says it will eventually process all 203 files it has received so far.

The names are sent by the high court collegiums — similar bodies of top judges in the 24 high courts — to the ministry, which then completes background checks of the candidates picked from the bar and the state judiciary with the help of confidential reports by the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

After that, the ministry forwards all details to the SC collegium for the final selection.

“We have already sent 69 names this week,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Another government official added that the names already sent to the SC collegium pertain to 13 high courts in the country while the department of justice has cleared another batch of around 50 names, which are expected to be sent to the CJI by the end of the week.

“There have been 34 judges’ appointments this year so far; this (batch of recommendations forwarded) will allow us to cross the 126 mark this year,” the first official added.