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SC issues notice to govt on judges's appointment despite pendency of Presidential reference

Despite the pendency before a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court of a Presidential reference on the issue of meaningful consultative process to be followed by the chief justice of India in appointment of judges of Supreme Court and high courts, the apex court today asked the Union government to reply within 10 days to an interlocutory application concerning the appointment of judges to the Punjab and Haryana high court.

This directive was issued by a division bench comprising Justices S Saghir Ahmad and K T Thomas.

The IA, filed by advocate Mohan Lal Gupta, was an offshoot of a previous writ petition on the issue of appointment of judges of the Supreme Court, chief justice and judges of high courts and transfer of judges from one high court to another on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India.

The hearing on Gupta's petition, which came up along with a similar petition by R K Singh on July 27, was deferred by the bench in view of the Presidential reference, made by the court on the same day, raising doubts about the ''consultative process'' being followed by the CJI in such matters.

The nine-judge Constitution bench, headed by Justice A S Anand, had already issued notice to the necessary parties on July 30. The Constitution bench had fixed the next date of hearing on September 15.

Earlier, both Solicitor General Santosh Hegde and Additional Solicitor General C S Vaidyanathan strongly opposed entertaining of the IA by the two-judge bench.

Vaidyanathan said the issue raised by the IA was completely covered under the Presidential reference being heard by the Constitution bench. He said the government file pertaining to the appointment of judges could be produced before the Constitution bench on the next date of hearing and it would not be proper for the present two-judge bench to peruse the same to adjudicate a similar issue.

The response of the ASG came when Justice Ahmad asked how the government appointed two judges to the Guwahati high vourt when the two petitions (by Gupta and Singh) were pending.

When the bench sought the opinion of the Bar Association of India on the IA, senior counsel K K Venugopal said it would be proper if the IA was taken up for hearing after the verdict of the Constitution bench on the presidential reference.

Rejecting Venugopal's plea, the bench allowed the BAI to intervene in the IA and asked it to file its reply within ten days.

At this juncture, counsel for Committee on Judicial Accountability Kamini Jaiswal complained that the registry was being choosy in registering its petition opposing any appointment of judges without the CJI following the meaningful consultative process as laid down in the Supreme Court Advocates Association case in 1993.

UNI

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