Judge elevations can't be blocked because Collegium does not accept a name Centre wants: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that the Central government cannot block the appointment of judges just because names cleared by it were not approved by the Collegium. [The Advocates Association Bengaluru v. Barun Mitra & Anr]..A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said that when the Collegium does not accept a name for judgeship, that should be the end of it."Suppose some name is cleared by you (Central government) and suppose Collegium does not clear it. Then that should be the end of the chapter. Somebody expects to be a judge and we do not accept that, then that should be the end. This has happened in more than one case. This cannot be the reason other names are halted. Else it becomes like a ping pong ball.".The Court 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.It warned that a situation should not come to pass where the Collegium or the Supreme Court is made to take a decision that is not palatable..The judges said that not even 50 per cent of the names recommended for judgeship by the Supreme Court Collegium were being cleared by the government, either due to intelligence reports or adverse inputs from the government."The pick and choose is creating a lot of difficulties and people who are senior are left out," Justice Kaul said to Attorney General for India R Venkataramani.Apart from 5 names reiterated for judgeship, 14 names were still pending with the Central government, the Court further noted..The Court asked the Attorney General to see that a senior candidate is not superseded by the appointment of a junior candidate, from among those names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium."This is the problematic up and down of the process. This problem has again occurred now and this is selective clearance from our list," the Court added..The top court also cited the example of recent appointments made to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where out of the five names recommended by the Collegium, the Centre cleared the only three for appointment."If this is done, the inter se seniority is disturbed and thus hardly conducive to pursue young lawyers to join the bench," the Court observed..The Court further highlighted that there was a delay in implementing the transfers of judges recommended by the Collegium as well. "The transfers are troubling us...The first set took a couple of months and now the same position even for transfers. How should we accept it all? Transfers must take place immediately," the Court said..The Court was hearing a plea 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.In November last year, the apex court had sought a response from the Union Law Secretary in the matter.Meritorious lawyers recommended by the Collegium for High Court judgeship often back out because the Central government processes names selectively, thereby affecting potential seniority of the candidates, the Supreme Court had lamented in the last hearing.Attorney General Venkataramani had, in turn, assured the Court that he would have discussions with the government on the concerns raised by the Court..The matter will be heard again next on November 20.