SC collegium will send back Joseph name for elevation

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court collegium on Friday decided to back Uttarakhand high court Chief Justice KM Joseph for elevation to the top court despite the government spurning his nomination last month. The move is certain to further strain the already frayed relationship between the executive and the top judiciary.

The five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court who comprise the collegium — Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, and Justices Jasti Chelameswar, R Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph — said that they had “on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice KM Joseph as a judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated”.

The collegium chose not to send Justice Joseph’s name to the government immediately, noting in their resolution that “the said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of

SC collegium recommends the name of Justice KM Joseph for elevation to Supreme Court judge

After sitting on recommendation for over 3 months, government returns file to collegium for reconsideration

Collegium meets to reconsider the proposal to appoint Justice Joseph as SC judge

Justice Jasti Chelameswar writes to CJI requesting him to call collegium meeting to reiterate the name of Justice Joseph the names of Chief Justices of high courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required”. The collegium, which decides on appointments to the higher judiciary, also considered the names of three judges from Calcutta, Rajasthan, and Telangana & Andhra Pradesh high courts, who are currently chief justices of other high courts, for elevation to the SC.