Reasons for SC collegium rejecting candidates for judgeship can’t be made public: HC
New Delhi (PTI): The reasons for rejection of recommendations for appointment of high court judges by the Supreme Court collegiums cannot be made public as it will be detrimental to the interests of people concerned and will stifle the appointment process, the Delhi High Court has held.
The high court made the observation while dismissing an appeal challenging an order which had rejected a petition seeking a direction to the Supreme Court collegiums to provide detailed reasons while refusing to accept recommendations for appointment of high court judges.
The appointment of a judge to the high court or Supreme court is an integrated, consultative and non-adversarial process which cannot be challenged in a court of law except on the ground of want of consultation with the named constitutional functionaries or lack of any condition of eligibility in case of an appointment or a transfer being made without the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India, it said.
“Further, publication of reasons for rejection will be detrimental to the interests and standing of people whose names have been recommended by the high courts, as the (SC) collegium deliberates and decides on the basis of information which is private to the individual being considered. Such information, if made public, will have the effect of stifling the appointment process,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said.
The division bench said the single judge has correctly noted that this court cannot sit in appeal over the subjective satisfaction of the Supreme Court collegiums.
It said the law regarding appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and high courts is well settled and the apex court has drawn a distinction between eligibility and suitability of a person to be appointed as a judge of the high court.
Petitioner Rakesh Kumar Gupta also sought directions to the top court collegium to provide the "qualification" considered for appointment as a high court judge and publish monthly data related to pending and disposed of recommendations.
The petitioner, who claimed to be a victim of delay in disposal of his case pending in the Rohini district court here, said the "high" rejection rate of recommendations by the collegium of the Supreme Court was "extremely disturbing" and showed there was a communication gap between the apex court and high courts regarding the criteria for appointment.
The petitioner claimed the rejection rate in 2023 was about 35.29 per cent against 4.38 per cent in 2021.
The single judge had dismissed the petition with Rs 25,000 costs, saying it was a "complete waste of judicial time", the petitioner had no locus standi to raise the issue, and he did not give any reason as to how he was a victim.
The division bench dismissed the appeal and said if the petitioner believes that his matters have been delayed, he can file an application for early hearing on the judicial side.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
