In a strange turn of events at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the case concerning delays by the Central government in notifying appointment of judges recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium was deleted from the causelist..A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia was informed by advocate Prashant Bhushan that the case had been deleted without any notice. Calling the situation "very strange", advocate Bhushan questioned the registry's role in the deletion.In response, Justice Kaul clarified that he did not have a role to play in the deletion. However, he hinted that the Chief Justice of India might be aware of the deletion and suggested that certain matters are better left unsaid."I had not deleted it or expressed unwillingness to take it up. I am sure the CJI is aware of it (deletion). Some things are best left unsaid. We will see," he said..The case being referred to was filed by the Advocates Association Bengaluru over delays in appointing judges.The Association has contended that the Central government's failure to process the names recommended by the Collegium for appointment was in direct contravention of the top court's judgment in the Second Judges case.The Supreme Court had in November observed that the Central government cannot block the appointment of judges just because names cleared by it were not approved by the Collegium.The Bench had made it clear that when the Collegium does not accept a name for judgeship, that should be the end of it.The Court had also slammed the Central government for a "pick and choose" approach in the appointment of judges, observing that it was disturbing the seniority among those recommended for the judgeship.The bench headed by Kaul had been keeping the government on its toes by closely monitoring the status of the Collegium files sent to the government for its approval.
