The Union of India is currently mulling over the names of 38 candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SCs), Scheduled Tribe (STs), Backward Classes (BCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for elevation as High Court judges.
This information was recently given to the Lok Sabha by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
In a written reply to Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Minister of State (independent-charge) for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal revealed that three of these 38 candidates belonged to SCs, two to STs, as many to BCs, and 25 to OBCs.
Kanimozhi had asked how many High Court judge recommendations were pending approval along with reasons for the same and the number of pending recommendations of candidates belonging to the SC, ST and OBC categories.
Meghwal informed the Parliament that 205 proposals recommended by the High Court Collegiums were currently at various stages of processing. He further apprised the House that since 2018, 16.8
percent of judges appointed to the High Courts have been from SCs, STs and OBCs.
As of July 22, 2024, out of 661 High Court Judges appointed since 2018, 21 (3.17 percent) belonged to SCs, 12 (1.81 percent) belonged to STs, 78 (11.80 percent) belonged to OBCs and 499 (75.49 percent) belonged to the general category.
The MP further asked the Ministry whether the government has withheld approval for certain recommended candidates owing to their social media posts.
In his reply, Meghwal cited the Supreme Court Collegium’s opinion that the expression of views by a candidate did not disentitle him to hold a constitutional office so long as the person proposed for judgeship was a person of competence, merit, and integrity.
The government provided inputs, which mainly contained information on the suitability, competence and integrity of candidates, he added.
The Central government had earlier cited social media posts of High Court judgeship candidates as a ground to not clear their appointment.
The Union of India returned the recommendation to elevate R John Sathyan as a Madras High Court judge in 2022, citing an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report that referred to two posts he had made on social media, one of which was critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Collegium reiterated its proposal twice, however, Sathyan’s name was not cleared for appointment.
In October 2021, Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan was recommended for elevation by the Bombay High Court Collegium. In February 2022, the Supreme Court Collegium also recommended his name.
However, the Central government opposed his elevation on November 25, 2022, on the grounds that Sundaresan aired his views on social media over several issues, which were the subject matter of consideration before the courts.
In January 2023, the Collegium reiterated its proposal, following which Justice Sundaresan was appointed as an additional judge in November 2023.