Govt yet to take call on 68 names sent by collegium

New Delhi: The government is yet to take a call on the recommendations made by the Supreme Court collegium on appointing a total of 68 judicial officers and advocates as judges of various high courts, sources aware of the procedure for appointment to the higher judiciary have said.

Between August 8 and September 1 this year, the apex court collegium had processed over 100 names recommended by various high courts and had finally sent 68 names to the government for appointment as judges to 12 high courts.

The government is yet to take a call on the names recommended by the SC collegium headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, the sources said. Out of the 68 names, two from Karnataka and one from Jammu and Kashmir have been sent for a third time, while 10 others have been recommended for a second time.

The rest are fresh recommendations. Prior to these recommendations, in a historic decision on August 17, the SC collegium had sent nine names, including three women, for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court.

The names were cleared with significant pace by the government leading to their swearing-in as apex court judges on August 31. On Friday, the Supreme Court collegium is learnt to have recommended eight names of judges, including acting chief justice of Calcutta High Court Justice Rajesh Bindal, for their elevation as chief justices of different high courts.

Besides, the marathon collegium meetings on Thursday and Friday have led to recommendations of transfer of five high court chief justices, including Tripura High Court Chief Justice Akil Kureshi, and 28 other high courts judges.

The combined sanctioned strength of the 25 high courts of the country is 1,098 judges. As on September 1, there were 465 vacancies, according data put in public domain by the Law Ministry.