The Justice K M Joseph seniority row explained
New Delhi, Aug 6: Several judges of the Supreme Court, including members of the collegium, are apparently upset over the Centre's decision to lower down the seniority of Justice K M Joseph, whose name has been notified, along with those of two other judges, for elevation to the Supreme Court.
Highly placed sources in the SC said the judges, including some members of the collegium, will meet Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra tomorrow to express dissatisfaction over the Centre's decision to put Justice Joseph's name in serial number 3 in the notification.
Sources
said
a
demand
would
be
made
to
the
CJI
to
take
a
corrective
measure
before
the
oath-taking
ceremony
in
the
Supreme
Court,
which
is
likely
to
take
place
on
Tuesday.
Some
members
of
the
Supreme
Court
Bar
Association
said
they
will
also
make
a
representation
on
the
issue.
The Centre on Friday came out with the notification for the appointment of the three judges, including Justice Joseph, to the SC.
There was a tussle between the five-member collegium headed by the CJI and the Centre over the elevation of Justice Joseph to the SC.
Justice Joseph, the chief justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, had headed a bench, which had quashed the imposition of President's Rule in the state in 2016. Uttarakhand was then under the Congress rule.
The collegium had, on January 10, recommended the name of Justice Joseph, along with that of senior advocate Indu Malhotra, for elevation to the Supreme Court.
However, the government had returned Justice Joseph's name for reconsideration and gone ahead with the appointment of Justice Malhotra.
The August 4 appointment notification has placed Justice Joseph after Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Vineet Saran.
The warrants of appointment of the three judges were signed by the President on August 3.
According to the collegium's January 10 resolution, when Justice Joseph's name was recommended for elevation, "He stands at Sl. No.45 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on the all-India basis."
Justice Joseph's elevation to the SC put an end to a protracted stand-off between the government and the judiciary.
The number of judges in the top court after the fresh appointments has gone up to 25. There are still six vacancies.
The collegium had, on May 16, in-principle reiterated the decision to recommend Justice Joseph's name for elevation to the SC. The recommendation was sent to the government in July and it was accepted.