Interference doesn’t augur well: SC

A FORMAL RESOLUTION ON JUSTICE AKIL KURESHI’S ELEVATION WAS UPLOADED ON

THE SUPREME

COURT’S WEBSITE ON SEPTEMBER 20

NEW DELHI: Judicial interference in matters pertaining to appointments, transfers, and postings of judges “does not augur well for the institution”, the Supreme Court said on Monday while hearing a petition regarding the elevation of justice Akil Kureshi as Madhya Pradesh high court chief justice.

The Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHAA) has filed the petition asking the top court to inquire about the status of Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation on Kureshi’s elevation.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi said the matters of appointments, transfers, and postings of judges “go to the root of the system of administration of justice and, therefore, the power of judicial review has to be construed from the aforesaid standpoint”.

The collegium recommended Kureshi’s appointment as the Madhya Pradesh high court chief justice on May 10. It modified the recommendation and suggested Kureshi’s appointment as Tripura high court chief justice on September 5. A formal resolution in this regard was uploaded on September 20 on the Supreme Court’s website.

The collegium modified the recommendation after the government twice returned its proposal for appointing Kureshi as the Madhya Pradesh high court chief justice.

It reiterated its earlier stand to appoint Kureshi as the chief justice. But it felt appropriate to nominate him as the Tripura high court chief justice. The collegium did not cite the reasons for the modification.

The GHAA’S petition questions the prolonged delay on the Centre’s part to finalise Kureshi’s appointment as per the collegium’s May 10 recommendation. In the wake of collegium’s latest resolution on the judge’s elevation, the petition has been rendered infructuous.

When the bench took up the GHAA’S petition, the CJI said the new resolution on justice Kureshi’s appointment had been uploaded.

“The modified recommendation of the collegium has been put out on website. A proposal has been sent to the government...”