New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph, who set aside President’s rule in the hill state in 2016, and senior lawyer Indu Malhotra have been recommended for appointment as Supreme Court judges.
A committee of the senior-most judges led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, had decided on the two names against the six vacancies. Once the government clears the recommendation. Indu Malhotra would be the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed to the top court. In 2007, she was only the second woman lawyer to be appointed as senior advocate, three decades after the first, Justice Leila Seth, was designated.
Just a month after he had delivered the verdict in 2016 that allowed Harish Rawat to return to power, the Supreme Court collegium had recommended the Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph’s transfer to the joint high court for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in Hyderabad. But the government did not clear the transfer. The high court at Hyderabad still does not have a full-time Chief Justice.
As per the established procedure, the recommendations of appointment, transfer and elevation of high court and Supreme Court judges are sent to the government. The government can return the file once, but usually agrees to it if the collegium reiterates its recommendation.