Govt referred back 10 reiterated recommendations for appointment of judges back to SC Collegium

Kiren Rijiju

The Union government has referred back 10 reiterated proposals for appointment of judges back to the Supreme Court Collegium (SCC), Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a parliamentary response on February 9.

Of the 10 proposals that have been sent back to the collegium, the SCC has again reiterated 3 proposals to the government and sent 7 to HC collegium for additional inputs, the minister said.

This reply comes amidst the ongoing tussle  between the Supreme Court and the government have been involved in a tussle over the collegium system of appointment of judges.

According to the response, the recommendations were sent back in view of various reports/ input received by the government, which needed further consideration by the Collegium. The government has sent reiterated cases for reconsideration in the past as well, the reply stated. There have been instances in the past when the SCC had agreed to the views expressed by the Government and recalled its reiterated recommendations, noted the response.

The law minister’s response says that as per 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 the High Court.