Govt wants Supreme Court to reconsider its proposed elevation of Justice Joseph

new delhi — The Central government on Thursday asked the top court collegium to reconsider its recommendation for the elevation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K.M. Joseph as a judge of the Supreme Court.

“The proposal for the reconsideration of the case of K.M. Joseph has the approval of President and Prime Minister,” said the letter sent to Chief Justice Dipak Misra by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The letter also communicated the President’s nod for the appointment of senior lawyer Indu Malhotra as a judge of the top court.

Top sources in the Law Ministry privy to the communication said the government has invoked both the principle of seniority and the proportionality in returning the recommendation of Justice Joseph for reconsideration more than three months after the top court collegium (on January 10, 2018) unanimously recommended his name for elevation.

The sources also took pains to try to clear the “campaign” that the government was standing in the way of the elevation of Justice Joseph because of his judgment against imposition of President’s rule in Uttarakhand. Expressing “deep distress” over the “campaign”,

The proposal for the reconsideration of the case of K.M. Joseph has the approval of President and Prime Minister. Govt letter sent to CJI the source asserted the government’s right to send back the collegium recommendation for reconsideration, contending that this right flowed from the 1993 and 1998 judgements by the benches of nine judges each.

While sending back the recommendation for reconsideration, the government has also flagged the non-representation of SC/STs in the top court judges.

The Law Minister’s communication to the CJI, the sources said, also held that Justice Joseph stands at number 42 in the seniority of High Court judges and there are 11 Chief Justices of different High Courts who are senior to him — a clear suggestion that his elevation to the Supreme Court would be at their expense. Pointing to the disproportionate representation the Kerala High Court has, the top source said that elevation of Justice K.M. Joseph to the apex court would further compound it. —