Advocate General (AG) of Kerala Gopalakrishna Kurup K. has expressed his displeasure over the Central government selectively clearing names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment as High Court judges.
Felicitating Justice Johnson John, Justice G.U. Girish and Justice C. Pratheep Kumar on their recent appointment as Additional Judges of the Kerala High Court, the AG said on Wednesday that the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended names of five judicial officers for elevation on October 10.
However, the Union of India approved three names, while judicial officers Snehalatha MB and P Krishna Kumar failed to get the Central government nod for elevation as Additional Judges at the Kerala High Court.
The AG said that such picking and choosing of names by the Centre amounted to ‘executive tinkering’ of collegium recommendations, which was certainly an antithesis to the independence of the judiciary.
Noting that one of the reasons for the never-ending pendency of cases was judicial vacancies, he said it would be in the best interest of the common citizens of the country that all courts functioned with full capacity.
He said the Supreme Court Collegium mentioned in its recommendation that both the consultee judges had agreed to the fact that the names of two judicial officers left out in the consequential executive notification were suitable for appointment.
The Collegium had also said that the assessment made by the government of India in the files did not indicate anything adverse to their integrity or reputation, noted the AG.
He said he failed to understand what more was required to be appointed as a High Court judge than duly assessed suitability for the same and proven individual integrity.