Seven out of 9 SC collegium recommendations to appoint CJs to high courts accepted: Govt

Seven of the nine recommendations made by the Supreme Court collegium this year to appoint chief justices to nine high courts have been accepted while two names are under "various stages of processing", Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said up to July 12, the Supreme Court collegium has recommended nine proposals for appointment of high court judges as chief justices in various high courts.

He said out of the nine, seven judges have been appointed as chief justices in the high courts of Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Telangana.

Two proposals for appointment of high court judges as chief justices of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh high courts are "under various stages of processing as per provisions of the Memorandum of Procedure(MoP)".

Sources said the government had recently asked the collegium to reconsider the name of Justice Vikram Nath, who was recommended to be elevated as chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is learnt to have written back seeking reasons for the reconsideration. The recommendation was made on April 8.

The government is yet to take a call on elevating Justice Akil Kureshi as chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh high court, the sources said.

On June 3, when Prasad took charge of the Law Ministry, he had asserted that neither he nor his ministry will be a "post office" on judicial appointments and that he will work as a stakeholder in consultation with the Supreme Court and high courts to expedite recruitment of judges.

He had also said the government is in a "mood" to fast track consultations with stakeholders to set up an all-India judicial service to recruit judges for lower courts.