Collegium defers decision

​New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium on Wednesday deferred a decision on the issue of reconsidering its recommendation to elevate Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph as the judge of the apex court which was sent back by the government last week.

The 5-member Collegium comprising CJI Dipak Misra and justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph met after the workings hours, but no decision was taken. The resolution of the meeting uploaded on the apex court website said the Collegium had met "to consider the following agenda:

'To reconsider the case of Justice KM Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court (Parent High Court: Kerala), pursuant to letters dated 26th & 30th April, 2018 received from Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India and also to consider the names of Judges from Calcutta, Rajasthan, and Telangana & Andhra Pradesh High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, in view of the concept of fair representation. Deferred," the resolution said.

Justice Chelameswar had not come to court on Wednesday but attended the collegium meeting. The Collegium, an official said, discussed threadbare the note sent to the CJI by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while returning the file relating to the recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph as an apex court judge. Justice Joseph's name was recommended along with then senior advocate Indu Malhotra on January 10 for their elevation as apex court judges. The government had on 26 April declined to accept the recommendation of the Collegium and asked it to reconsider his name.

Malhotra was sworn in as the judge of the apex court on April 27. Justice KM Joseph, who had headed the bench that had quashed the Narendra Modi government's decision to impose President's rule in the Congress-ruled hill state in 2016, was not considered to be elevated as a Supreme Court judge by the Centre which said the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters.