Selective arguments

Executive and judiciary need to find common ground

The swearing in of former Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta as judge of the Supreme Court on Monday brought to a close one of several running controversies between the judiciary and executive over the appointment and transfer of judges in the higher judiciary. Justice Datta’s appointment had been one of 20-odd higher judiciary appointments the government had delayed late last month for unspecified reasons. The issue of higher judiciary appointments has long been a point of contention between the government and the apex court but gathered traction after August 2014, when the Constitution (99th Amendment) Act created the