‘Central government just a communicator in judicial appointments’

New Delhi: The central government is just a “communicator” in judicial appointments, senior advocate Fali S Nariman argued in the SC, as he objected to the government sitting on the collegium recommendation to elevate Justice Akhil Qureshi as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

“The Centre is just the distinguished communicator as per the memorandum of procedure (which governs higher court appointments),” Nariman told a bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which is hearing a plea filed by the Gujarat High Court Bar Association against the government dragging its feet on the issue.

The view that he presented is in sharp contrast to the government’s position. Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has time and again maintained that the government was not a post office but an equal stakeholder with a say in the process.


The collegium had on May 10 recommended the names of Justice Qureshi and three others for elevation as high court chief justices.

The central government cleared the names of Justices RV Ramasubramanian (as the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High HC), RS Chauhan (Telangana) and DN Patel (Delhi), but did not act on Justice Qureshi.