Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on Tuesday said the recent appointment of two Supreme Court judges within 72 hours of their recommendation was a message to the nation that the Collegium is alive, active and committed to its task.
Addressing a gathering of lawyers and judges who attended a function organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in honor of recently appointed Supreme Court judges – Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan, the CJI added that the collegium itself should not be thanked for the recent appointments , because the government is an equal participant in this process.
“We have to accept the fact that the government is a stakeholder in this process and with these appointments that took place less than 72 hours after the names were recommended, I think we have sent a message to the nation that the Collegium is alive, active and committed to its task,” said the CJI.
Justice Chandrachud further said that in all appointments by the collegium, all judges of the Supreme Court are consulted and therefore every appointment to the apex court commands the respect and affection of its judges.
A collegium headed by the CJI and comprising four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court had on 16 May recommended the two names for appointment to the Supreme Court – Justice Mishra, the then Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, whose parentage was Chhattisgarh. High Court; and Justice Viswanathan, then a senior advocate who was promoted directly from the Bar and is expected to retire as the Chief Justice of India in 2030. Both were sworn in on 19 May.
The CJI’s statement comes at a time when the latest proposal forwarded by the Collegium to the Center on July 5 recommends two judges for the Telangana High Court Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan (parent HC – Gauhati); and Kerala High Court Chief Justice SV Bhatti (parent of Andhra Pradesh HC) waits for Govt. The Supreme Court has an approved strength of 34 judges and currently has a strength of 30 judges.
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