The Supreme Court on Monday criticised the Centre's "pick and choose approach" while taking note of the delay in clearing the names of two Sikh lawyers for appointment as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
"Two of the candidates not cleared are both Sikhs. Why should this arise? Don't let past issues link up with present pending ones," Bar and Bench quoted the bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia as saying.
The Supreme Court said such an approach disturbed the seniority among those recommended for judgeships and it "did not send a good signal".
During the hearing, Justice Kaul said, "Six transfers are pending -- one each from Allahabad and Delhi and four from Gujarat. What signal do you send when, out of the transfers recommended, four judges from Gujarat are not transferred at all?" he said.
Court Was Referring Centre's Failure On Appointing 2 Sikh Judges
The Bench was referring to the Centre's failure to clear the names of advocates Harmeet Singh Grewal and Deepinder Singh Nalwa for appointment as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. They were recommended for appointment by the Collegium on October 17 along with three other lawyers. However, the Centre on November 2 notified the appointment of only three lawyers out of a list of five.
The AG in response said there was some delay due to elections and progress has been made in respect of the reiterated names.
The court, however, remarked that not even 50 per cent of the names have been cleared. "We had considered the inputs. You, by detaining, have affected the seniority," it added.
The court in its order noted that out of the remaining eleven names recommended for transfer, five have been transferred and six transfers are pending. It also said that eight candidates have not been appointed from recently reiterated names and for five names, the government has not replied with its comments.
"Some of these are senior to others appointed. This is something on which we have spoken of earlier, that it becomes difficult to persuade candidates to join the bench," the court observed. After the AG assured the court that it will not be disappointed, the matter was listed for hearing on December 5. The court was hearing a plea filed by the Advocates Association Bengaluru over delays in appointing judges.
