HC rejects advocates' plea against Brahmin judge hearing PIL

Madras High Court has rejected a demand by a lawyers' body that its PIL against the list of nine names recommended by the court collegium for appointment as judges be not heard by a bench headed by a Brahmin judge.
The PIL by the Madras High Court Advocates Association has sought the return of the list sent by the collegium of the high court and wanted it to be redone on grounds including "arbitrariness" in the process of selection and that it had ignored eligible candidates from 'un-represented' and 'under- represented' communities.
When the matter came up today before a bench comprising Justice V Ramasubramanian and Justice P R Shivakumar, counsel for petitioner, Muthuramalingam, raised objections to its hearing by the bench on the grounds that since some specific points raised in the petition pertained to appointment of Brahmin judges, it should not be heard by a bench headed by a judge from the community.

Reacting to this, Justice Ramasubramanian said the plea made by the advocates before the Chief Justice of the court in this regard has been rejected and the PIL was specially ordered (before the bench) which would continue to hear the same.
Muthuramalingam then submitted that the office-bearers of the association were in New Delhi and sought adjournment of the hearing. Accepting this, the bench posted the hearing for next week.
In the PIL, petitioner S Arivazhagan, Secretary of MHAA, submitted that though the concept of social justice and accommodating persons from various classes and assuring them of a seat in the high court cannot be adjudicated very easily, there is arbitrariness in the process of selection where it refuses to adopt the rule of reservation.

He contended that in the recent past, the number of judges who have been appointed were from the same communities/castes which are already over-represented and there was suppression of the number of competent lawyers available among communities which are unrepresented since Independence.