"Some things best left unsaid": Justice Kaul reacts to deletion of judicial appointment case

New Delhi: In an unusual development, the case pertaining to delay in judicial appointments by the Centre was deleted from the cause list. The plea was slated to come up for resumed hearing on Tuesday by a division bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.

Calling the development "very strange", advocate Prashant Bhushan, counsel for the petitioners, questioned the role of the Supreme Court's Registry in deletion of the case. Bhushan told the bench that the case has been deleted "without any notice".

Speaking for the bench, Justice Kaul verbally said that he neither deleted the case nor expressed unwillingness to preside over the case. "I am sure the CJI is aware of it (deletion of the case). Some things are best left unsaid," Justice Kaul added.


At the last hearing, the bench had disapproved of the Centre's "pick and choose" policy regarding the transfer and appointment of high court judges recommended by the Supreme Court collegium. The bench had told Attorney General R Venkataramani that the "selective" transfer of judges "does not send a good signal".

Questioning the selective transfers, the bench had (at the last hearing) remarked that four judges from the Gujarat High Court, whose transfer was recommended by the Supreme Court collegium, have not yet been transferred. "What signal are you sending?" asked the bench to the country's top law officer.

Besides the issue of selective transfers, the bench had also underscored the non-appointment of judges recommended for elevation by the top court collegium. Speaking for the bench, Justice Kaul had verbally remarked that in the recent names recommended for elevation, 50% of the names have not been cleared by the central government.

The bench had also highlighted that the names of two lawyers from the Punjab and Haryana HC, recommended for elevation to the bench, have not been cleared. The SC said that both advocates are Sikhs. The SC had told the AG "the concern is that these dynamics must improve... The current baggage should not add to the previous baggage".