Joseph’s elevation put off for a month
Elevation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph to the Apex Court is off at least for a month because of the Supreme Court is now on a six-week summer holiday due to which the senior judges forming the collegium may not meet soon to reiterate its recommendation to promote him as already decided in principle.
Justice Jasti Chelameswar, who is retiring on June 22, has already gone back to his hometown Hyderabad and there is no likelihood of his return to Delhi anytime soon to facilitate the collegium meeting.
On May 16, the collegium agreed to push Joseph’s file returned by the Cenre but it could not reach a consensus on the names of seven other High Court judges to fill up as many other vacancies in the Supreme Court.
The collegium’s decision is to send name of other judges to be promoted along with reiteration of Justice Joseph’s name to steer clear of the government’s contention that the collegium was harping on particular names instead of filling up all the vacancies.
Two more vacancies occur in the Supreme Court from Justice Chelameswar’s retirement on June 22 and Justice AK Goyal retiring on July 7 in the same week the courts reopen. Indications are that the collegium may now meet only after June 22 when Justice Chelameswar’s vacancy in the 5-member collegium will be filled by Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri.