Collegium to clear judges’ name through phone or by circulation
“Another safety protocol the collegium has worked out is to dispense with personal interaction with candidates recommended to be appointed as justices,” he said.
by Ajmer Singh
New Delhi: Supreme Court Collegium has decided to clear proposals to appoint judges either telephonically or by circulation method amid Covid-19 pandemic.
“This has been done to maintain social distancing norms, which otherwise would have been difficult if the collegium meetings were to be held closed door in a conventional manner”, a legal luminary told ET.
“Another safety protocol the collegium has worked out is to dispense with personal interaction with candidates recommended to be appointed as justices,” he said.
“The move has also witnessed exceptional bonhomie between collegium members with judges okaying proposals by consensus,” the person cited above, said.
In January 2018, SC Collegium headed by the then CJI Deepak Misra had introduced the system of personal interaction-cum-interview before recommending them as judges.
On April 20, SC Collegium cleared advocates for appointment as judges of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana High Courts without any personal interaction. “What is the point in interviewing people already recommended by the chief justices of high courts? Also, it is difficult to travel these days and individuals concerned will have to spend around ₹50,000 to come to Delhi, and if there are no serious issues, no interactions are required,” legal sources said.
On being asked about collegium meeting to appoint judges to the HC and SC, a source said there are about 100 proposals pending with the apex court to appoint judges. “The proposals are being taken up by date of recommendation, so the latest recommendations will take some time and proposals received on an earlier date will be taken up first,” he said.
Another legal luminary, when asked about appointments to the apex court said, “ I think the collegium is likely to take a call on this after July.”
The Supreme Court currently has two vacancies and with the retirement of Justices R Banumathi and Arun Mishra in July and September respectively, the number will rise to four.