The much awaited Supreme Court Collegium meeting finally happened and then turned out to be a damp squib. Initially the meeting was in doubt because of the absence of one of the key members of the Collegium, Justice Jasti Chelameswar, who was absent in court. The judge, however, came to the meeting later in the day and the top five – Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph – met for a short while but could not arrive at a decision.
The Supreme Court communiqué (see below) said:
The collegiums met to consider the following agenda: “To consider the case of Mr Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice Uttarakhand High Court (parent HC Kerala), pursuant to letters dated 26 th and 30 th April, 2018 received from Ministry of Law and justice… and also to consider the names of judges from Calcutta, Rajasthan and Telangana and Andhra Pradesh High Courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court in view of the concept of fair representation.”
No decision was arrived at and one word described the situation as: “Deferred.”
– India Legal Bureau