SC Collegium defers decision on Centre asking it to reconsider Justice K M Joseph's elevation

The Supreme Court Collegium today deferred a decision on the Centre's communication asking it to reconsider its recommendation to elevate Uttarakhand Chief Justice K M Joseph to the apex court that could trigger a faceoff between the executive and the top court.

The decision by the Collegium or a group of five most senior judges was kept in abeyance amid the Centre's rejection of suggestions that it turned down the elevation of justice K M Joseph last week as the bench headed by him had quashed the imposition of President's Rule in Congress-ruled Uttarakhand in 2016 by the Modi government.

Legal experts opined that the government was bound to appoint Justice K M Joseph as a Supreme Court judge if the collegium reiterates its recommendation while government sources said a fresh reconsideration can be sought. However, the experts, who included Dushyant Dave, said there was no time-frame for implementing the collegium's recommendation.

The Collegium comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph met after the top court's working hours.

Besides Justice Jospeph, the agenda of the Collegium was to deliberate on the names of some judges from Calcutta, Rajasthan and Telangana & Andhra Pradesh High Courts for elevation as apex court judges.

The resolution of the meeting uploaded on the apex court website said the Collegium had met "to consider the following agenda:
His seniority was also questioned by the Centre which had said "he stands at Sl. No.45 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on all-India basis."