CJI Lodha denies elevation of J. Manjunath to P&H HC as CJ; Blames “campaign to defame judiciary”

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) RM Lodha today came down upon what he termed as a “campaign to defame judiciary” while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against Justice KL Manjunath’s elevation as the Chief Justice of the Punjab & Haryana High Court (P&H High Court)..The PIL, filed by an advocate Ram Sankar, had sought that the elevation of Justice Manjunath by the Supreme Court Collegium be declared as non binding on the Central government. Ram Sankar had also prayed that all the proceedings of the Collegium including the details with respect to appointment and and elevation of judges be published on the Supreme Court website..When the matter came up for hearing, an upset Justice Lodha remarked:.“Who told you that the Collegium has made such a recommendation. You believe all media reports and file a petition in the Supreme Court. I am the Chief Justice of India. I don’t know if there is any other Chief Justice. We have not recommended Justice Manjunath’s elevation. The entire matter is founded on an erroneous premise.”.Justice Lodha then proceeded to criticise what he termed as campaign to defame judiciary..“What is our primary role – to discharge judicial duties or to read media reports? I am not saying everything is perfect. But don’t shake the confidence of people by defaming judiciary.” .Reacting to the criticism levelled against the Collegium system, he also remarked;.“I am from the first batch of the Collegium system of appointments, Nariman is the last. If the Collegium system has failed, we have all failed.”.He then proceeded to dismiss the writ petition on the ground that it has been founded on the erroneous premise that the Collegium has recommended Justice Manjunath’s elevation..According to earlier media reports, Justice Manjunath was recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for elevation as P&H High Court Chief Justice. The file was, however, returned by the Central government on the ground that one of the Supreme Court judges had submitted a dissent note; but the Supreme Court had reiterated its recommendation. From what has emerged from today’s events, it is not clear whether any recommendation was made in the first place or whether the Collegium dropped Justice Manjunath’s name after the Centre returned the file. Interestingly, Sankar’s petition states that the judge who gave the dissent note on Justice Manjunath’s elevation is Justice JS Khehar.