SC collegium meeting of Sept 30 on elevation of judges discharged

The Supreme Court (SC) collegium on Sunday night issued a statement saying its meeting to decide the elevation of judges to the apex court on September 30 was discharged because Justices D Y Chandrachud and S Abdul Nazeer had objected to how Justice U U Lalit had decided to finalise the elevation.

“The unfinished work at the meeting called on September 30 is closed without there being further deliberation and stands discharged,” read the statement.

Usually, collegium meetings are held in person to discuss and deliberate the elevation of judges of the SC. However, on September 30, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) circulated a letter among judges to elicit their views since Justice Chandrachud was holding court till 9 pm that day and could not attend the meeting.

“The deferred meeting of the collegium was convened on September 30 at 4.30 pm. Since one of the members (Justice Chandrachud) did not attend the meeting, the CJI sent a proposal vide letter dated September 30 by way of circulation,” the statement added.

The judges body also said that based on a formal meeting that took place on September 26, the names of 11 judges has been considered.

“Since the opinion was unanimous on the name of Bombay High Court (HC) Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta, a resolution to that effect was passed and the consideration of names of the other 10 judges deferred until September 30,” the statement read.

The names that were recommended for elevation in the letter are Justice Ravi Shankar Jha (Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana HC), Justice Sanjay Karol (Chief Justice of Patna HC), Justice P V Sanjay Kumar (Chief Justice of Manipur HC), and senior advocate K V Viswanathan.

Since the manner of deliberation of elevation was questioned, the matter will now be discussed across the table among judges comprising the collegium.

The notice also stated that a letter dated October 7 has been received from Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju requesting the incumbent CJI (U U Lalit) to nominate his successor.

Bar Council backs Chandrachud

The Bar Council of India on Sunday said it has complete faith in SC judge Justice D Y Chandrachud, who is in line to become the next CJI after a complaint was filed against the judge alleging misuse of his office to grant favours to his son.

R K Pathan, who claimed to be the chief of the ‘SC and HC litigant association’, lodged a complaint on October 8 with the President of India and others against Chandrachud — the seniormost judge of the SC.

The statutory body of lawyers said this was a “deliberate attempt to malign the judiciary”.