Justice Akil Kureshi: Centre to take decision on appointment as Madhya Pradesh HC CJ before August 14

The Central government today told the Supreme Court that it will take a decision on the file relating to the appointment of Justice Akil Kureshi as the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court after the ongoing Parliament session ends..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made submissions to this effect before a Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta..The Court said that it will keep the matter pending on the judicial side, and asked the Centre to take a decision before the next date of hearing on August 14..When the Solicitor General queried on whether the decision should be conveyed to the Collegium or the Supreme Court on the judicial side, CJI Gogoi said that the government could place it before Collegium or the Court on judicial side. Even if it is conveyed to the Collegium, the response would be made part of the current petition on the judicial side, he said..The Court was hearing a petition filed by the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association, which has prayed that a direction be issued to the Central government to implement the Collegium resolution of May 10, 2019 and appoint Justice Akil Kureshi as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court..In March this year, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended that Justice Kureshi be appointed as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court..Further, on the day before the declaration of the 2019 general election results, the Centre issued twelve notifications clearing appointments of judges to various High Courts and the Supreme Court. This included four appointments to the Supreme Court and two appointments as Chief Justices of two High Courts..However, there was no notification clearing the name of Justice Akil Kureshi for appointment as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court..Things escalated when on June 7, the Centre notified the appointment of Justice Ravi Shanker Jha as Acting Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court, thereby signalling that it had no intention to clear the file of Justice Kureshi..The GHCAA has pointed out that all the recommendations of the Supreme Court Collegium were carried out and only the recommendation appointing Justice Akil Kureshi as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh has not been acted upon by the Centre..It is further stated that the inaction on the part of the Centre is an attack on the independence of the judiciary and diminishes the primacy of the judiciary in the matters of appointment and transfer of judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court..[Read Order].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.