Collegium equally liable for delay in judge appointments: AG

The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that its Collegium is equally responsible for delay in the appointment of judges, noting that the government completes the process of clearing a recommendation in an average of 127 days whereas the Collegium takes an average of 119 days. The response from the Centre came when it was questioned on the delay in the appointment of the judges. It recommended, in order to fine-tune the exercise of clearing names, the top court introspect and clear the hurdles within the judiciary causing this delay.

Arguing before a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph, Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal contended why should the Centre be blamed for the inordinate delay against the backdrop of High Courts consuming nearly five years in sending names for the appointments.

“Why question the government for this 100 odd days in vetting a name... High courts across the country have not even recommended the names for appointment of judges for 199 out of 396 vacancies. Let the High Courts reform themselves first,” he said.

The AG pointed out that the Bombay, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh High Courts have taken more than five years to recommend names for appointments to high courts. In the previous hearing on the matter, the court had asked Venugopal to make pictorial representation, through a chart, on the timeline on the judicial appointments in high courts and the Supreme Court.