CJI Bobde refuses to cancel the SC collegium meet

NEW DELHI : Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde has chosen not to cancel the scheduled meeting of the collegium on Thursday for recommending names of judges for the Supreme Court even after the notification for appointment of justice NV Ramana as the next CJI has come through two days ago, people familiar with the development said.

The deliberation for the names this week was agreed upon by the CJI and the four most senior judges of the collegium during their last meet on March 17.

However, after the President officially appointed justice Ramana as the CJI with effect from April 24, some of the judges in the top court were of the view that the meeting of the collegium for discussing the names for appointment to the apex court may not take place, people cited above said.

However, CJI Bobde, until last evening, had not called off the meeting scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

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There is nothing in the memorandum of procedure (MoP) that prohibits or restricts the right of an outgoing CJI to make recommendations to the Union government for appointment of judges in the Supreme Court or high courts. But as a matter of propriety and self-regulation, previous CJIs have refrained from sending names to the government for judges in the Supreme Court.

At the same time, CJIs have been regularly making recommendations for appointments in high courts even after designation of the next senior most judge as the CJI. The collegium for the high courts comprises three members – CJI and the two most senior judges. Previous two CJIs, justices Ranjan Gogoi and Dipak Misra, had also made recommendations for the high courts. The incumbent CJI, justice Bobde, has not been able to make any recommendation to the government for filling up vacancies in the top court. The Supreme Court is currently short of five judges.