As govt intervenes, collegium tweaks resolution on Kureshi

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court collegium has decided to recommend the elevation of justice Akil Kureshi as the chief justice of the Tripura high court, modifying its earlier decision of pitching his name for the Madhya Pradesh high court after the Centre returned its proposal on the matter twice, according to a resolution released on Friday.

The collegium, a body of the SC’s top five judges headed by the Chief Justice of India, unanimously passed the resolution to modify its recommendation after the government referred it back “along with accompanying material”, the resolution said.

Passed on September 5, the resolution was released on the apex court’s website on Friday evening.

“The said recommendation sent to the government has been referred back to the Chief Justice of India vide two communications dated 23rd August, 2019 and 27th August, 2019 received along with accompanying material. These communications and material received from the Department of Justice have been placed before this Collegium,” the September 5 resolution said.

“On reconsideration and after taking into account the aforesaid two communications… and the accompanying material, the Collegium resolves to reiterate its earlier recommendation dated 10th May, 2019 with the modification that Mr Justice AA Kureshi be appointed as Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court,”the resolution added.

The collegium had in May approved justice Kureshi’s name for the post of the Madhya Pradesh high court chief justice.

The central government, however, accepted all recommendations made by the Centre except the one regarding justice Kureshi.

A petition was recently filed by the Gujarat high court Advocates Association in the Supreme Court against the Centre’s “reluctance” to appoint justice Kureshi as the Madhya Pradesh HC chief justice.

When the top court heard the petition on September 16, it told the petitioner that a decision would soon be published on the apex court’s website.

Justice Kureshi, a senior judge of the Gujarat high court, was transferred to the Bombay high court in October 2018.

The SC and the government have gone back and forth over several appointments ever since the apex court struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) bill in 2015 that said all appointments to the higher judiciary would be made by the NJAC.

The government had passed the bill in 2014.

Subsequently, the two sides decided to agree to a Memorandum of Procedure on judicial appointments that would address gaps in the collegium system.

Not much has progressed on that front.

THE COLLEGIUM HAD IN MAY APPROVED JUSTICE KURESHI’S NAME FOR THE POST OF THE MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT CHIEF JUSTICE. THE GOVT, HOWEVER, TURNED IT DOWN