Reconstitute Senior Designation committee to consider rejected and deferred candidates afresh: Supreme Court to Delhi High Court

The Supreme Court on Friday suggested that the Delhi High Court should reconstitute the committee for Senior Designations and undertake the process of Senior Designations afresh by considering the applications of candidates who were rejected or whose applications were deferred in the last round of designations in November 2024..The suggestion was made by a Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan while hearing a plea by advocate Raman Gandhi seeking the quashing of the recent decision by the full court of the Delhi High Court to confer senior designation on 70 lawyers in November 2024. The High Court had interviewed 302 lawyers for the same."We are suggesting that (with respect to) deferred candidates and rejected candidates, committee will do the fresh exercise in terms of Indira Jaising judgement. This is the understanding. Fresh process has to be conducted by reconstituting the committee," the Supreme Court today told the counsel appearing for the Delhi High Court.The Court asked the Delhi High Court lawyer to take instructions and posted the case for further consideration on April 15. "Counsel appearing for the High Court to take instructions. List on 15th," the Bench directed..The senior desginations made by the High Court in November 2024 became mired in controversy after one of the members of the permanent committee, Senior Advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, resigned from the committee over claims that the final list was prepared without his consent.The permanent committee is a body which shortlists the candidates to be designated. This list is then sent to the full court which takes the final call.This process has been put in place in terms of the 2017 judgment of the Supreme Court in Indira Jaising v. Supreme Court.The permanent committee of the Delhi High Court includes Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya, Justice Vibhu Bakhru, Justice Yashwant Varma, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, and Senior Advocates Mohit Mathur and Sudhir Nandrajog.According to sources, Nandrajog, also a representative of the Delhi government, did not sign the final list which was circulated to the full court for deliberation, as he was busy in an arbitration during the relevant period. It was also claimed that the final list was not the list that was decided upon and that the original list was tampered with.On February 17, the Supreme Court issued notice on the plea challenging the November 2024 designations and sought the response of the Delhi High Court's Registrar General, who was also ordered to submit a copy of the senior designation committee's report in a sealed cover.Notably, the Court also sought the response of Nandrajog, who had stepped down from the permanent committee. Nandrajog then filed his response in a sealed cover..During the hearing today ,the counsel for High Court told the apex court that the issue will be considered by the full court.He also said that the case of rejected candidate, which is one person, will be considered. "The High Court will reconsider in full court. There are 71. The HC considered 70 and one is left out," it was submitted.However, the counsel for the petitioner said that applications of 67 candidates were deferred.The Supreme Court then suggested that both rejected and deferred candidates be considered afresh by reconstituting the committee for senior designations.The Court urged the High Court to put the issue to rest instead of the forcing the top court to examine the finer details of the procedure followed."If all of you wish to go into the procedure followed, we are prepared to go," the top court cautioned..[Read Live Coverage].[Read Order]