“I am far too conscious of my limitations to be elevated to the Supreme Court”, Justice KM Joseph

In his first public appearance after being appointed a Supreme Court judge, Justice KM Joseph today said that he is far too conscious of his limitations to be elevated to the Supreme Court..He was speaking at the felicitation organised by Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for the four newly appointed judges – Justices Indu Malhotra, Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran and himself..“I am far too conscious of my own limitations to be elevated to the highest court. It is indeed a great honour. It will be presumptuous on my part to even venture to make any promise. All that I can do is I hope and pray that I will be true to the oath which I have taken and which will go a long way in dispensing justice”, said Justice Joseph in his short speech..Besides Justice Joseph, Justices Indu Malhotra, Indira Banerjee and Vineet Saran also spoke on the occasion..A controversy had gripped the Supreme Court regarding the seniority of Justice Joseph after the President conveyed the order in which the judges were to be sworn in..The fact that Justice Joseph’s name was third in the list led to protest among certain judges in the Collegium, since his name was first recommended by the Collegium on January 10, while the other two judges were recommended only on July 16..Nearly eight months after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Justice Joseph’s name for elevation to the Apex Court, the Central government finally ceded ground after opposing his elevation on what proved to be shaky grounds..The Collegium had first recommended the name of Justice KM Joseph for elevation to Supreme Court along with the name of Justice Indu Malhotra, on January 10 this year. After more than three months, the Centre cleared the file of Malhotra J and notified her appointment to the Supreme Court on April 26..However, it refused to clear Justice Joseph’s file, sending it back to the Collegium with a 6-page explanatory note on why it did not want him to be elevated to Supreme Court. This had led to a huge outcry, with many in the legal fraternity alleging that the Centre did so because of a judgment rendered by Justice Joseph, by which he struck down the President rule in the State of Uttarakhand.