The High Court on Monday reserved its verdict on a plea challenging its single-judge bench order rejecting a petition to restrain the Supreme Court collegium from recommending appointments to the higher judiciary.
“File your submissions. We will consider it and pass an order,” a bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal told the petitioner. Delhi-based lawyer R.P. Luthra, who filed the plea, told the bench he was not arguing for removing the judges, who were recently elevated to the apex court. He alleged that the collegium system for recommending appointments to the higher judiciary was “unconstitutional”.
Mr. Luthra said that recommendations were not transparent as only some lawyers were considered.
A single-judge bench of the HC had in May dismissed two pleas, one filed by Mr. Luthra, which had sought to restrain the government from acting on the collegium's recommendation to elevate three HC chief justices and a senior lawyer to the apex court.
The four new judges were: A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and L Nageshwar Rao.
