The Supreme Court Collegium on Monday issued a statement, saying that in light of the letter sent by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju to Chief Justice of India (CJI) U.U. Lalit on October 7 requesting him to nominate his successor, all the deliberations slated to be initiated during the September 30 meeting of the Collegium stand discharged.
The statement further said that the September 30 meeting was called to discuss the elevation of three High Court judges and one Senior Advocate as judges of the Supreme Court, which could not take place on account of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud holding court till 9 pm.
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Later in the day, Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit circulated a letter to the Collegium members, finalising names of four people as SC judges.
These included Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court; Justice Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice of Patna High Court; Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, and Senior Advocate K.V. Viswanathan.
Two members of the Collegium – Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph approved the CJI’s proposal through their respective letters on October 1 and 7.
However, Justice Chandrachud and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer raised objection to this process by way of separate letters on October 1. Though they did not disclose any views against the candidates, but raised objection against the procedure of selecting and appointing candidates by way of a letter.
The CJI then addressed a second letter to Justice Chandrachud and Justice Nazeer on October 2, seeking reasons or alternative suggestions, but there was no response to the same.
On October 7, the CJI received a letter from the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, urging him to nominate his successor. CJI lalit is due to retire on November 8, 2022.
The Collegium then decided to discharge the September 30 meeting without further action.
As per the statement, during a meeting held on September 26, the Collegium had unanimously agreed to elevate Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta to the apex court.
However, regarding the 10 other names which were under consideration, the Collegium thought it fit to examine more judgments rendered by those judges, and the meeting was deferred for September 30.