Three of the five judges, whom the Supreme Court collegium had recommended last week to be appointed as the judges of the Kerala High Court, would be sworn in next week.
Johnson John
The President on Wednesday issued warrants for the appointment of Johnson John, G. Girish and C. Pratheep Kumar as Additional Judges of the Kerala High Court for a period of two years. The swearing-in is likely to be held on October 25, according to sources.
However, the Centre has not decided on the names of P. Krishnakumar, the Registrar General of the Kerala High Court, and M.B. Snehalatha, the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kollam. The Centre has not so far returned the nominations of the two to the Supreme Court collegium, according to indications.
C. Pratheep Kumar
While Mr. John is serving as the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kalpetta, and Girish as Principal District and Sessions Judge, Thrissur, Mr. Pratheep Kumar is functioning as the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kozhikode.
The nomination process of the judges from the Kerala High Court was mired in controversy as the three-member collegium of the court, which had the then Chief Justice S. Manikumar, Justice S.V. Bhatti and Justice Vinod Chandran as its members, had forwarded two lists for the consideration of the apex court.
While Mr. Manikumar and Mr. Bhatti together gave a list, Mr. Vinod Chandran forwarded a separate list. Incidentally, the Kerala collegium had not met for nearly two years to draw up the list following the alleged difference of opinion between its members.
It appeared that the apex court collegium had hand-picked five judges, who had featured on both the lists to recommend for appointment. The Centre, on its part, cleared three from the list of five.
Incidentally, no decision has yet been taken in the case of two lawyers, who were earlier recommended by the Kerala collegium.
