Supreme Court collegium will forward 125 names for HC judges to law ministry: CJI HL Dattu

NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India HL Dattu said the Supreme Court collegium will forward the 125 names cleared for appointment as HC judges to the law ministry. These appointments will not be scrutinised under the proposed new guidelines on ensuring transparency.

Appointments to the higher courts have been in a limbo since the Modi government came to power in 2014. High courts have been functioning with 40% of judges, even as the backlog of cases increased. Justice Dattu said the collegium, when it meets under the new CJI TS Thakur, will not send back the 125 names cleared by high court collegiums under the earlier convention. A constitution bench of the top court is expected to rule on the transparency guidelines soon.

Justice Dattu, who is retiring on Wednesday, could not make any appointments during his term as the CJI as the National Judicial Appointments Commission issue was pending before the court. “It was a judicial process, it took time,” he said.

The NJAC was proposed by the government to replace the collegium, but the court declared it unconstitutional. The outgoing CJI sidestepped questions on the tolerance debate going on in Parliament, instead taking heart from the fact that the case load in the SC had come down from 64,000 cases when he took over to 58,000. He cited his work in human interest cases, such as long-pending insurance claims in motor accident and land acquisition cases, to claim that he was “very satisfied” with his stint in office, first as a judge and later as the chief justice.

The CJI was known to dispose of hundreds of such cases each day, determined to help the average litigant recover his dues with insurance companies. His stint also saw less PILs being filed in the top court. Justice Dattu acted tough on publicity-seeking PILs and those raising frivolous issues.

From five to eight PILs per day, it the number has fallen to two to three, he said. PILs were introduced during CJI PN Bhagwati’s time to allow poor litigants to seek justice or allow activists to seek relief on their behalf. Justice Dattu warned against letting litigants run riot with PILs, suggesting instead that they be confined to those seeking justice for marginalised, weaker sections, women, children and the poor.