Government accepts Madras, Odisha chief justices in SC, demurs on KM Joseph
02 Aug 2018
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Chief justices of the high courts of Madras and Orissa are likely to be cleared by the government for appointment to the Supreme Court, though the name of an Uttarakhand high court CJ has not been sent.
A report in the Hindustan Times said the government was planning to clear the names of Indira Banerjee, the Madras HC chief justice and Vineet Sharan, the CJ of Orissa HC. But the name of KM Joseph, the CJ of Uttarakhand high court, has not been cleared.
The apex court had earlier recommended all three names to the government.
Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had in April asked chief justice Dipak Misra to reconsider the appointment of Joseph, who ranked 42 in the seniority-list of judges.
The matter also came up in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with the opposition slamming the government for sending back justice Joseph’s name. Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress leader in the house, accused the government of playing favourites.
The law minister had said that Kerala had adequate representation in the higher judiciary, with three judges from the state being chief justices of high courts. Even the Supreme Court had a judge from Kerala. Justice Joseph is also from the state.
