SC Collegium recommends two more names for appointment as judges

• The two names are: Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Aravind Kumar.
• The resolution said that the judicial appointment body took into consideration the fact that Punjab and Haryana HC is not adequately represented on the SC bench
• The resolution adopted by the collegium said the court which has a sanctioned strength of 34 Judges is functioning with 27 Judges

The Supreme Court collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, has recommended two more names to the Union government for appointment as judges of the top court.

The two names are: Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Aravind Kumar.

The collegium’s fresh recommendation comes even as the five previous recommendations for appointment as Supreme Court Judges are pending. The collegium had on December 13 had recommended five names and the appointments are yet to be made.

Besides CJI DY Chandrachud, the collegium comprises Justices SK Kaul, KM Joseph, MR Shah, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna, said that its resolution with respect to the appointment of Justice Bindal was unanimous.

It said: “The resolution of the Collegium in regard to the appointment of Justice Rajesh Bindal… Allahabad is unanimous. However, in regard to the appointment of Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat, Justice K M Joseph has expressed his reservations on the ground that his name can be considered at a later stage”.

According to the Indian Express, the resolution adopted by the collegium said the court which has a sanctioned strength of 34 Judges is presently functioning with 27 Judges and “thus, there are seven clear vacancies”.

The resolution pointed out that “on 13 December 2022, the Collegium recommended five names for appointment as Judges of the Supreme Court, namely (i) Justice Pankaj Mithal, (ii) Justice Sanjay Karol, (iii) Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, (iv) Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and (v) Justice Manoj Misra. Their appointment is yet to be notified by the Government”.

The Collegium said it had resolved to recommend two more names for appointment as Judges of the Supreme Court against the two remaining vacancies.

It said that while evaluating the names, the “judgments authored by those falling in the zone of consideration for elevation… were circulated among the members of the Collegium for a meaningful discussion on and assessment of their judicial acumen”.

The statement, according to The Indian Express, said that “after carefully evaluating the merit, integrity and competence of eligible Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts and also accommodating a plurality of considerations, the Collegium” found Justices Bindal and Kumar “to be more deserving and suitable in all respects for being appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court of India”.

The resolution said that “while recommending the above names the Collegium has taken into consideration the following aspects: a. The seniority of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges in their respective parent High Courts as well as overall seniority of the High Court Judges; b. The merit, performance and integrity of the judges under consideration; and c. The need to ensure diversity and inclusion in the Supreme Court by: (i) representation of High Courts which are not represented or are inadequately represented, in the Supreme Court; (ii) appointing persons from marginalized and backward segments of society; (iii) gender diversity; and (iv) representation of minorities”.

It said: “The names recommended earlier by the Collegium by its resolution dated 13 December 2022 shall have precedence over the two names recommended presently for appointment to the Supreme Court” and “therefore, the appointments of five judges recommended on 13 December 2022 should be notified separately and earlier in point of time before the two judges recommended by this resolution”.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM