CJI Lodha denies Manjunath recommended for elevation, blasts media for misreporting facts

NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India RM Lodha denied that the Supreme Court collegium had recommended the elevation of Karnataka High Court judge KL Manjunath as Punjab and Haryana High Court chief justice, criticising the media for misreporting facts and sparking a controversy.

"I am the chief justice of India,” Lodha said Monday. “I think I head the collegium unless there is another one. I don't know about this. What is the source of these reports? We have not recommended his elevation as high court chief justice."

He also condemned what he called the systematic attempt being made to project the idea that the judiciary was promoting persons against whom there were allegations.

"For God's sake, don't shake the people's confidence. We are not perfect. We can't be. We are from the same society. But we are a very important institution in a democracy," Lodha said.