The Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on the central government for its negligent attitude towards the recommendations of the apex court Collegium regarding the appointments of judges. The top court has asked the government to explain why it has been sitting on names reiterated by its Collegium.
The SC admonished the Centre not to treat the Collegium like a mere “search committee” and think that it’s the government’s discretion whether to ignore or accept its recommendations.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud asked the government to submit a tabulated chart of every pending name reiterated by the Collegium, within a week. Not only this, the government has also to provide reasons behind pending judges’ appointments.
“The Supreme Court Collegium is not a search committee. It has a certain status in terms of the constitutional fabric,” Chief Justice Chandrachud commented while addressing R Venkataramani, Solicitor General appearing for the government.
This is not the first time that the Supreme Court has had to make such a strong observation about the intension of the government. In an earlier order, the apex court had observed that ignoring or returning names reiterated by the Supreme Court Collegium would amount to acting in breach of the Collegium system developed for judicial appointments. Yet, the government failed to act promptly.
