Several judges miffed over tweaking of Joseph seniority
The controversy over the elevation of Justice KM Joseph has not blown over with his name being cleared by the government.
Rather, a new fault line is visible in the relations between the judiciary and the Modi government.
In question now is the seniority of Jospeh, which has been tweaked in the government notification, so that he is a notch below two other judges whose names too have been cleared.
Several judges of the Supreme Court are upset with the government for tampering with the seniority of judges, media reports said. ‘It is a blatant interference by the government," one of the miffed judges told NDTV.’’
Justice Joseph's name was sent first by the Collegium and it ought to be first in the appointment notification. Instead, his name is the third, making him junior to the other two judges.
The miffed judges are planning to meet the Chief Justice of India in this connection and take up the altering of the seniority of Justice Joseph in the appointment notification. Some members of the Supreme Court Bar Association said they will also make a representation on the issue.
The two other judges embroiled in the controversy are Justices Indira Banerjee and Vineet Saran, both of whom were recommended by the collegium after it took up the case of Justice Joseph.
In fact, the Collegium had recommended Justice Joseph for elevation in January, but the government questioned the choice, citing inadequate representation in the top court from other states, especially Kerala.
But after the Collegium reiterated its choice of Justice
Joseph, the government accepted it. The government had denied opposition allegations that Justice Joseph was being targeted for his verdict in 2016 that cancelled President's Rule in Uttarakhand and enabled the Congress to remain in power.
In February, Justice Chelameswar had questioned Justice Joseph’s exclusion from the recommendations for elevation to the Apex Court. A resolution was then passed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice J. Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice M.B. Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph which had stated that they found Joseph to be “more deserving and suitable in all respects than other Chief Justices. The resolution had, in fact, specifically mentioned that the resolution was being passed after considering the combined seniority of Chief Justices and senior judges of High Courts, apart from their merit and integrity.