‘Reconsidering Joseph’s name will be a violation of procedure’

A day before the Supreme Court collegium examines the Government's return of its recommendation to promote Justice KM Joseph to the apex court, All India Bar Association on Tuesday asserted that reconsideration of his name will be "clear violation of the memorandum of procedure (MoP)."

It even warned that if the collegium's recommendations fall foul of the norms, the Government may be prompted to cite this as a reason to reintroduce the National Judicial Appointment Commission, possibly in a different format and name.

Its chairman and senior advocate Dr Adish C Aggarwala wrote to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and four other collegium judges that if Justice Joseph's name is still reconsidered, they should reconsider all other senior judges and fill up other four vacancies left in the apex court. Though he repeatedly talks of four vacancies, there are actually six vacancies after Indu Malhotra became the 25th judge as against the sanctioned strength of 31.

"The collegium preferred to leave four posts vacant in the highest court of the land which has overflowing dockets, rather than choosing four among the available and eligible candidates. This is a grim situation that needs serious thought as it reflects on the faith the collegium reposes on the Chief Justices of High Courts," he said.