New Delhi: The Attorney General for India has informed the Supreme Court that the Supreme Court Collegium's December recommendations of five judges for appointment in the top court will be cleared "very soon".

The appointment of judges has been a topic of an ongoing tussle between the Supreme Court and Union government, with the latter having delayed several appointments and the collegium recently publishing reasons cited by the government for turning down suggested names.

On February 3, replying to a query raised by the Supreme Court regarding the status of the pending recommendations, AG R. Venkatramani said that warrants of appointments for these judges will be issued very soon, "within a maximum period of five days," LiveLaw has reported.

The five judges who were recommended on December 13, 2022, are Justice Pankaj Mithal, Justice Sanjay Karol, Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Manoj Misra. Of them, the senior-most, is Justice Pankaj Mithal, who is Chief Justice of Rajasthan high court.

On February 1, the Supreme Court Collegium cleared two more names and said the above five would have precedence.

A day ago, the government said in the Lok Sabha that it has sent back 18 names that were proposed by the Supreme Court collegium to be appointed as judges.

Today, February 3, a bench of Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice A.S. Oka was considering a contempt petition filed by the Advocates Association Bengaluru in 2021 against the Union government's decision to not approve 11 names reiterated by the Supreme Court collegium.

"Five names were proposed in December. Now we are in February", Justice Kaul told the AG, according to LiveLaw.

When the AG said they will be cleared, Justice Kaul asked if the court could record that warrants will be issued.  The AG noted after a brief back and forth that they will be issued by Sunday, February 5, or even as early as this evening.

However, the AG also requested that the Supreme Court's stipulation that the warrants come through in five days not be recorded.

LiveLaw reported that Justice Kaul then pointed out that five days had been granted even though the AG had asked only for three.

The court also spoke on transfer orders having been pending.

"This is really troubling us," Justice Kaul said on proposals for the transfer of judges, at the hearing today.

"Don’t let us take a stand that is going to be uncomfortable," the judge told the AG.

In its order, it said:

"We have put to the AG that any delay in this (transfer proposals) may lead to both judicial and administrative actions which might not be palatable," the bench noted in the order.

The bench also reminded the AG that a judge who had been recommended as Chief Justice is, in fact, demitting office in 19 days.

To another advocate's note on the judiciary being attacked by the government, the bench said that it is "quite used to it."

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