CJI UU Lalit unlikely to recommend any name to fill four vacant posts in SC

Two members of the five-member collegium headed bu CJI UU Lalit have rejected his proposal for approval of names

The Chief Justice of India UU Lalit-led collegium may not be able to recommend any name for filling four vacant posts for Supreme Court judges. Two members of the five-member collegium have rejected Lalit's proposal for approval of names, a report IN the Times of India (TOI) stated. 

During the tenure of his predecessor NV Ramana, Lalit had opposed his recommendations for vacant posts citing the argument that Ramana was left with a tenure of less than one month. The same objection has been raised against Lalit. 

CJI Lalit will not be able to hold any collegium meetings after October 8 as he will retire on November 8. The court will reopen on October 10, kicking in the "less than a month" rule. 

Apart from the two vacant posts, CJI's attempt to get the names of four people approved for the post of Supreme Court judges from the Collegium through circulation has also met strong resistance from two members of the Collegium. 

The members have rejected the bid by saying, "appointment to the high constitutional office and as judges of the highest court should never be done through circulation".

Among the four people proposed to be judges at the SC, one is a senior lawyer. The opposing members said that elevating a senior advocate at this juncture when as many as 11 HCs are unrepresented in the SC, may not be appropriate. 

They further said that the elevation of a lawyer would reduce the chances of many HC judges making it to the post of the Chief Justice of India (CJI). 

The senior advocate, according to TOI, could have become the CJI in 2030. 

As of now, CJI Lalit-led collegium has recommended only one name, Dipankar Dutta, to the central government for the post of a SC judge.