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‘Sensitive’ inputs delaying High Court chief justice appointments: Centre to Supreme Court

The Centre told the Supreme Court that “sensitive material” with the government is delaying the implementation of the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendations for appointments of chief justices to high courts.

Attorney General R. Venkatramani told a bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that he has received certain inputs from the Union government which are sensitive in nature.

He also told the top court that revealing these issues in the public domain would neither be in the interest of the institution nor of the judges involved.

“I would like to place the inputs and my suggestions in a sealed cover for perusal by the judges,” Venkatramani told the bench. The matter has now been posted for hearing on September 20.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Harsh Vibhore Singhal seeking a direction that a time limit be fixed for the Centre to notify the appointment of judges recommended by the apex court collegium.

It has also sought a direction to plug the ‘zone of twilight’ of there being no time for notifying the collegium’s recommendations for the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.

The plea said that in the absence of a fixed time period, “the government arbitrarily delays notifying appointments thereby trampling upon judicial independence, imperilling the constitutional and democratic order and disparaging the majesty and sagacity of the court”.

The plea said if any name is not objected to or the appointments are not notified by the end of such fixed time period, then appointments of such judges must be taken as notified.