SC no to rethink on judges' elevation

NEW DELHI: Chief Justices H L Dattu, R M Lodha and A K Ganguly will be the new judges of the Supreme Court, while there is a strong possibility of two more appointments to the apex court. The way for their elevation has been cleared, with the SC collegium headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan brushing aside objections raised by the government, to re-endorse them for appointment to the top court.

The SC is functioning at present with 21 judges against the sanctioned strength of 26. The PMO had sent the collegium���s recommendation back to the SC panel by saying that Delhi HC Chief Justice A P Shah, Madhya Pradesh HC Chief Justice A K Patnaik and Uttarakhand HC Chief Justice V K Gupta were senior to Justices Dattu, Lodha and Ganguly.

The reiteration of the choice leaves government with no choice ��� in the light of SC���s judgment in the Judges Association Case of 1993 and the advisory opinion it gave in 1998 ��� but to notify the appointments of Chief Justices Dattu, Lodha and Ganguly.

The collegium, however, stood by its preferences, saying that they were ���most appropriate���. The SC panel also stressed the need to give representation to different High Courts. Though it offered to consider others on the panel for the remaining two vacancies , it remained unimpressed by the ���seniority��� consideration brandished by the government to question its picks and is sure to assert its preeminence while filling the two remaining vacancies.

In fact, the collegium headed by CJI is learnt to be quite miffed with the government for suddenly elevating the consideration of seniority to the level of a sacrosanct principle despite the fact that it has never been the sole criterion in appointments to the Supreme Court.

The feeling in the crucial body is that the government raised the bogey of seniority and supersession to split the ranks of judiciary, highly placed sources told TOI. The reason for the sullenness is not far to seek, considering that this was not the first time when the seniority consideration had not been followed. Even Justice Balakrishnan was superseded many times and judges much junior to him were appointed to the SC as judges ahead of him.