Supreme Court Bar Association, SCBA President Vikas Singh flagged the need to consider Supreme Court Lawyers for being elevated as High Court Judges and the need to create a database of all eligible lawyers who can be considered for appointments in the High Judiciary. The Chief Justice of India, BR Gavai responded saying SC Collegium cannot dictate how the High Court Collegiums are expected to choose candidates who are recommended for High Court judgeship.
Speaking at an Independence Day event organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), CJI BR Gavai observed that the High Courts take the first call on which names are recommended when it comes to the appointment of judges of High Courts."The Supreme Court is not a superior court to the High Court. Both the Supreme Court and High Courts are the constitutional courts. And insofar as the constitutional scheme is concerned, they are neither inferior nor superior to each other. Therefore, the first call has to be taken by the High Court Collegium. We only recommend the names to the High Court Collegium and request them to consider the names. And only after their satisfaction, the names come to the Supreme Court," CJI Gavai said.
Singh in his speech today said that the lawyers who are appointed as High Court judges are often only those that High Court judges see arguing before them. As a result, briefing counsel and even lawyers practicing before the Supreme Court may be overlooked for elevation to the Bench.He batted for the creation of a database with the names of candidates who are seen as eligible for judgeship in the interest of transparency in the appointment of judges.
He added that Supreme Court lawyers' names should also be part of this database so they can be regularly considered for elevation as High Court judges.Responding to these concerns, CJI Gavai said,"Insofar as the demand made by Mr. Vikas Singh is concerned that the lawyers who only argue (before High Courts) are being recommended, ultimately, even the Supreme Court Collegium cannot dictate the High Court Collegium to recommend the names."
However, the CJI also noted that the Supreme Court Collegium has had some success in recommending the appointment of Supreme Court lawyers as judges of High Courts.“I along with my senior colleagues have been successful in getting the names of some of the candidates, who are practicing here, not only recommended to various High Courts, but also some of them have already been appointed over the years. We are also in the process of recommending some more names,” he said.
He further backed the practice of personally meeting candidates before they are appointed judges.“With former CJI Sanjiv Khanna, we started the practice of interacting with the candidates. After interaction with them for 10-15 minutes or half an hour, we can find out as to how suitable they would be to contribute to the society," he said.
He urged the gathering to remember the contributions of Indian freedom fighters, adding that lawyers and judges have a duty to uphold the Constitution of India and recognise that no cause is too small to merit attention.“As legal professionals, you must recognize that no cause is too small to merit your attention. What may appear to be a minor dispute or a trivial grievance to one may, in fact, be a matter of life, dignity or survival for another. Every case you handle and every argument you advance contributes to the moral and social fabric of our nation. For judges, this responsibility carries an even deeper dimension.
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