A day after the Union Law Minister wrote to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) asking the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider its recommendation to elevate Justice K.M. Joseph, Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court, the Congress on Friday requested the Collegium to send its original decision back to the government.
And if the government doesn’t immediately clear it, the Congress suggested, the Collegium should not send any more names to the government to fill up the judicial vacancies across the country.
No more appointments
“The time has come that the Collegium should say no other appointments until its recommendation of Justice Joseph is accepted. It is a matter of principle and a matter of protecting institutions,” said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a press conference
“We believe the country feels that the Honorable Collegium must forthwith reiterate its recommendations in favour of Justice K.M. Joseph, which is well within their jurisdiction,” he added.
No fixed timeline
Once the Supreme Court resends its original recommendation, the decision become binding on the government. The government, however, can take its time, with no fixed timeline for the Law Ministry to clear the names.
“They waste time by keeping the recommendations without neither accepting nor rejecting. Justice Joseph was recommended in January but he was neither rejected nor accepted and the rejection has come after four and half months,” Mr Singhvi said.
“The Collegium must seek reasons from the government for the delay in even rejecting a recommendation,” he added.
