SC Collegium Delays Confirmation of Allahabd HC Judge Accused of Illegal Occupation
New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium has decided that Justice Rahul Chaturvedi of the Allahabad high court, who has been accused of illegally occupying a bungalow, will not immediately be confirmed as a permanent judge.
The resolution bears the names of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi as well as Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice N.V. Ramana.
This week The Wire reported that a family accused Justice Chaturvedi of illegally occupying their bungalow on Elgin Road in Allahabad. They have written many letters about the matter to the chief justice of India, the chief justice of the Allahabad high court, the president of India and chief minister of Uttar Pradesh among others.
The office of the president and the Union law ministry wrote to the UP government and the Allahabad high court, asking them to look into the matter.
The order said the collegium had received some complaints against one of the judges under consideration, without disclosing the judge's name. It “carefully scrutinised” material such as this complaint and only then assessed the “merit and suitability” of the three judges. Based on all this information, the collegium decided only Justice Irshad Ali, Justice Neeraj Tiwari and Justice Virendra Kumar II were suitable to be appointed as permanent judges.
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Justice Chaturvedi has received an extension as an additional judge and will continue for another period of six months.
The collegium does not disclose the reasons for not elevating or confirming a judge. The order does not name the judge against whom complaints were received and there is no suggestion that the alleged illegal occupation of a bungalow by Justice Chaturvedi was one of the things considered.
14-B, Elgin Road, Allahabad. Photo: Special arrangement
But the collegium has said while confirming judges that the process is exhaustive and involves receiving intelligence inputs from investigative agencies. The process also involves talking to the peers of these judges from various courts where they have worked and involves a review of the judgements written by these candidates.
In July, the Supreme Court’s collegium had recommended that 16 additional judges of the Allahabad high court be made permanent. Justice Chaturvedi was one of the four whose names were left pending.
Also read: A Manifesto for Judicial Accountability in India
On September 4, the Union law ministry issued a circular saying that the president had confirmed and appointed these 16 as permanent judges to the Allahabad high court. Now a month later, the same collegium has confirmed the other three, leaving Justice Chaturvedi out. A government circular on the confirmation of the three judges will also be duly issued.
The permanent status of one of these three judges – Justice Virendra Kumar II – was also in question. He was made an additional judge in 2016 and was recommended for confirmation in 2018.
The Supreme Court deferred his confirmation saying that his work needed to be observed further. A year later, he was also confirmed as a permanent judge this week.
This article went live on September sixth, two thousand nineteen, at forty-five minutes past six in the evening.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
