The Supreme Court on November 20 said the government’s tinkering with judicial seniority through “selective” appointments and transfers of High Court judges may trigger responses from the Collegiums, which may create “embarrassing” outcomes, including deferring the swearing-in of new judges or the withdrawing of judicial work.
“What will happen at some stage is we cannot let judges whom we do not want to work in a court to continue to work in that court… Please do not let that happen. It will dilute the authority of judges. It will embarrass these judges,” Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul addressed Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre.
The Bench, also comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, referred to a recent decision of the Gauhati High Court to defer the swearing-in of senior advocate Kaushik Goswami as a judge of the court. Mr. Goswami was recommended for judgeship along with advocate N. Unni Krishnan Nair by the Collegium in October. Mr. Nair’s name was placed before Mr. Goswami’s in the Collegium resolution. The government had, however, only cleared Mr. Goswami. The government appointed Mr. Nair as judge two days after the High Court deferred the swearing-in of Mr. Goswami.
