With the fate of recent Supreme Court Collegium deliberations uncertain, the judges’ body has issued a joint statement revealing that while Justice Kaul and Joseph agreed, Justices DY Chandrachud and S Abdul Nazeer have objected to the procedure used by Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit to finalise potential candidates for elevation as apex court judges through the circulation of a letter.
The Collegium was unable to reach an agreement regarding elevation of judges to the apex court, and since Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju sent a letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI), UU Lalit on October 7 requesting that he nominate his successor, the resolution stated that all deliberations scheduled to begin at a meeting of the Collegium on September 30 would be discharged. According to the resolution “In the circumstances, no more action is required, and the unfinished business in the meeting scheduled for September 30, 2022 is concluded without further discussion. The meeting scheduled for September 30, 2022 has been adjourned “
CJI Lalit intended to finalise four names in a letter dated September 30, which was sent to the Collegium judges.
In the letter, the following persons were suggested for promotion:
- Justice Ravi Shankar Jha (Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court)
- Justice Sanjay Karol (Chief Justice of Patna High Court)
- Justice PV Sanjay Kumar (Chief Justice of Manipur High Court)
- Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan.
This letter route had been taken by the CJI because the meeting that was to be held on September 30 was cancelled due to Court till 9 pm as held by Justice Chandrachud.
The statement further highlighted that the Collegium mutually decided to elevate Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta to the Supreme Court at a meeting on September 26. However, in the case of ten additional names under consideration, the Collegium felt it necessary to analyse more judgments made by those judges, therefore the meeting was postponed until September 30. However, because that meeting was unable to take place, the CJI chose to send letters.