4 yrs on, decks cleared for first Muslim HC judge from Jammu
NEW DELHI: The Union government has approved the oldest pending recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium, clearing the decks for the appointment of Wasim Sadiq Nargal as the first Muslim judge from Jammu in the J&K high court, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Following a nod from the Union law ministry, senior advocate Nargal, whose name was first cleared by the Jammu & Kashmir high court collegium in August 2017 and who was later recommended by the Supreme Court collegium in April 2018, is finally set to be appointed as a judge, the people added.
President Ram Nath Kovind is expected to put his seal of approval on Nargal’s appointment soon, and the official notification for his appointment could be out as early as this week, the people said.
With the approval of Nargal’s name, the Centre has cleared the longest pending name recommended and reiterated by the Supreme Court collegium for appointment as a judge. The only other recommendation that comes close to it relates to pendency of five names for appointment in the Calcutta high court that were recommended by the collegium in July 2019. Despite reiteration by the collegium in September 2021, they are yet to be approved.
The memorandum of procedure (MoP), which guides the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary lays down that the government is bound by the decision of the collegium after the names are reiterated. MoP, however, does not prescribe a deadline for the government to notify appointments.
Nargal was one of five names recommended for elevation by the Jammu and Kashmir high court collegium on August 24, 2017. The Supreme Court collegium also ratified the high court’s recommendation regarding Nargal on April 6, 2018, and forwarded the name to the Union law ministry. But the Centre returned Nargal’s name after sitting on it for a few months. It urged the collegium to reconsider Nargal’s name for the judgeship but did not provide reasons for its request.
In January 2019, the collegium asked the government to furnish specific information on the basis of which the reconsideration was being sought.
At its meeting on January 16, 2019, the collegium headed by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said: “As regards Shri Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Advocate, consideration of the proposal for his elevation is deferred for the present. Meanwhile, Department of Justice be requested to furnish specific information in detail on the basis of which the proposal for elevation of Shri Nargal has been referred back for reconsideration by the collegium.”
In July 2019 justice Gogoi further wrote to the government on 10 recommendations, including that of Nargal, with respect of which pertinent information was still awaited from the government.
Finally, the apex court collegium reiterated Nargal’s name in February 2020. But the government, for the third time, asked the collegium to reconsider. Rejecting all objections, the collegium sent back Nargal’s name again in March 2021.
After sitting over Nargal’s name since March 2021, the government has finally cleared his appointment as a judge in the J&K high court, the people cited in the first instance said. With Nargal’s appointment, the strength of the judges in the high court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh will go up to 16, against its sanctioned strength of 17 judges.
Nargal, who has around three decades of experience as a lawyer, was appointed senior additional advocate general of Jammu and Kashmir in February 2017 and handled cases related to the Home Department, including the Information Department under the BJP-PDP government. Earlier, from September 2015 until November 2016, he served as an additional advocate general in the state.
Nargal was 49 when his name was recommended by the Supreme Court for elevation. A timely elevation would have brought Nargal in the zone of a potential chief justice of a high court by virtue of seniority.
In April 2021, the Supreme Court in a judgment set down 18 weeks as an outer time limit within which the Centre is expected to process the names for appointment of high court judges, besides notifying appointments once the names are reiterated by its collegium.