Here is all you need to know about the controversy surrounding Justice Joseph's proposed elevation to Supreme Court that has led to another Centre-Judiciary face-off
Although the much speculated Supreme Court Collegium meeting did not take place on Wednesday, four of the five senior most judges reportedly met at the chamber of CJI Dipak Misra to discuss the reiteration of Justice K M Joseph’s name for elevation to the apex court.
An apex court official said while there was a likelihood of the meeting being held on Wednesday, it was for the CJI Dipak Misra to fix the date but as of now there is no official word on it.
"There is no official confirmation when the Collegium would meet," the official said, adding that "it is obvious that the agenda of the meeting would be the elevation of Justice Joseph to the apex court".
According to The Indian Express, Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Kurian Joseph and Madan Lokur met Chief Justice Dipak Misra in his chambers around 4.15 pm. Justice J Chelameswar, the senior-most Supreme Court judge who led a virtual revolt against the CJI, was not present in the meeting as he was on leave. The English daily, however, reports that he has written to the members of the Collegium reiterating Justice K M Joseph's name for elevation to the Supreme Court.
The Collegium had earlier met on May 2, but had deferred a decision on the issue of reconsidering its recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph as the judge of the apex court, after it was sent back by the government last week.
In a related development, Justice J Chelameswar, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court who retires on June 22, has declined an invitation from the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for his farewell function citing personal reasons.
Justice Chelameswar had recently courted controversy by holding a press conference along with other three senior most judges -- Justices Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- on January 12, in which litany of allegations were made against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.
Here is all about the controversy that has led to another Centre-Judiciary face-off -
The controversy
On April 26, the government had returned the Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph seeking its reconsideration, saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails.
The opposition has alleged that the Centre's decision to return the recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph came due to his judgement against the imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand.
Justice Joseph had headed the Bench that had quashed the Modi government's decision to impose President's Rule in 2016 when the Congress was in power in the hill state.
What happens if the Collegium repeats its recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph?
The government will be bound to appoint Justice Joseph as a Supreme Court judge if the Collegium reiterates its recommendation.
According to legal experts, government has to follow the guidelines laid down by the apex court in its 1993 and 1998 judgements, referred to as the second and third judges case, relating to the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.
However, the experts said, there would be no time frame for the government to implement the Collegium's recommendation.
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