Govt returned 10 proposals reiterated by SC Collegium

Amid an ongoing tiff between the Executive and the Judiciary over the procedure to appoint judges, the government has asked the Supreme Court Collegium to reconsider 10 proposals reiterated by it, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Out of these 10 proposals, the SC Collegium has reiterated its earlier recommendation for appointment in three cases.

On the remaining seven reiterated proposals, the collegium has sought additional inputs from the high court collegium, he said in a written reply to a question.

'Ten proposals reiterated by SCC (Supreme Court Collegium) were recently referred back to the SCC for reconsideration,' he said.

In view of various reports and input received by the government, which in its opinion warrant further consideration by the Collegium, the Centre has sent such reiterated cases for reconsideration as was done in the past as well, Rijiju explained.

'There have been instances in the past when the SC Collegium had agreed to the views expressed by the government and recalled its reiterated recommendations,' he said.

According to existing Memorandum of Procedure on appointment of high court judges, the proposal is initiated by the chief justice of the high court in consultation with two senior most judges of that high court.

The Union law minister then considers the recommendations keeping in mind IB reports on the candidates.

The complete material is then forwarded to the Chief Justice of India for his advice.

Accordingly, the government sends all proposals received from the various high court collegiums to the Supreme Court Collegium for advice.

The collegium then recommends names to the government for appointment as HC judges.