by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Modi-govt judiciary bonhomie in top gear
5 SC judges appointed
150 HC judges next in line
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Feb 15
After prolonged delays, five new judges were today appointed to the Supreme Court. The appointments are reflection of new found bon-homie between the Modi government and the judiciary after Justice J S Khehar took over as Chief Justice of India early last month.President Pranab Mukherjee signed their Warrants of Appointment and the notifications will be issued shortly.
Lokmat was the first to break the story on January 28 saying that the Modi Government is now working in tandem with CJI J S Khehar and there is every possibility of return of the “Achchhe Din” (good days) in the judiciary.
The Lokmat had also said “If reports are to be believed, most of the vacancies in Supreme Court will be filled during the next few weeks and also in high courts.”
Those elevated to the apex court are : Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Rajasthan HC Chief Justice Naveen Sinha, Kerala HC Chief Justice Mohan M Shantanagouder, Chhattisgarh HC Chief Justice Dipak Gupta and Karnataka HC judge S Abdul Nazeer.
The working strength of the Supreme Court has received a fillip with the fresh appointments. Though it has a sanctioned strength of 31, the top court was working with only 23. Now the strength has gone up to 28.
The SC collegium will meet shortly to recommend the remaining three names for the highest court. The reason for not picking the remaining names was lack of consensus within the collegium itself.
The vacancies in SC and various high courts had been stuck as former CJI T S Thakur and Modi were not on the same page. Those familiar with behind-the-scenes goings-on, majority of vacancies in the high courts will also be filled on a priority basis.
The government resolved the issue after CJI Khehar went public saying that the much-delayed Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for the appointment of judges will be decided shortly.
The bon-homie will ensure that more than 152 vacancies in various high courts also filled sooner than expected.
Sources say that the Prime Minister walked an extra mile to develop rapport with CJI Khehar when he rang him on the New Year to congratulate him. Later, they had a meeting and also at a state banquet at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The two have met on more than three occasions during the past 25 days.
CJI Khehar is workaholic, tough and doesn’t believe in hogging the lime-light. He wants to cut delays at courts right from the district level and in perfect harmony with the digitization program.
