New Delhi, Aug 27 : The Supreme Court on Monday restrained the Centre from filling the post of Director General Medical Services (Air Force) and sought Centre's response on the plea by Lt. General Manomoy Ganguly who is asserting claim to be appointed as DGMS (Army).

The bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan restrained the Centre from filling the post as the court was told that the post of the DGMS (Air Force) is likely to be filled thereby closing the doors on Lt. General Ganguly.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Lt. Gen. Ganguly, told the court that a man junior to Ganguly by one year is being appointed to the vacant slot.

The court was informed that to defeat the claim by Lt. Gen. Ganguly, the DGMS (Air Force) has been posted as DGMS(Army).

The court ordered that the post of DGMS (Air Force) should not be filled as it perused the records relating to the matter before it.

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said that it was the decision of Defence Minister to move the DGMS (Air Force) as DGMS (Army).

Attorney General said, "It is Defence Minister's order." Sibal retorted: "Maybe. It may be Prime Minister's decision. A Defence Minister is not above law."

Senior counsel P.S. Patwalia also appearing for Ganguly told the court that he was being offered a three-tier post.

"So far I have not been given anything. They are offering him a three-tier post. If third post (DGMS-Air Force is filled by a third person, then nothing will be left", Patwalia told the court.

The top court by its August 1, 2018 while differing with the Armed Forces Tribunal's May 7, 2018, direction to appoint Lt. Gen. Ganguly as DGMS (Army) had remitted the matter to the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The AFT by its May 7, 2018, order had directed the Centre to appoint Lt. Gen. Ganguly as DGMS (Army) "as expeditiously as possible and certainly not later than one month from today, and for that purpose, take all necessary consequential steps."

The next date of hearing is September 10.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court judges have reportedly agreed to disclose their assets to the public by publishing the same on the top court's website.

The decision was taken recently at a full court meeting and a resolution in this regard was adopted which will apply to future judges as well, as reported by Bar and Bench on Thursday.

A copy of the resolution is yet to be made public.

According to the report, the decision was taken in the wake of recent controversies surrounding opacity in the functioning of the judiciary, especially after a huge pile of cash was allegedly discovered at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma, currently a judge of the Allahabad High Court.

The publication of assets on website was not mandatory earlier but was discretionary subject to whether an individual judge wanted to do the same, the report added.