SC to hear on Nov 4 Guj HC advocates body on elevation of Bombay HC judge Justice Akil Kureshi

The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear on November 4 the plea of the Gujarat High Court's bar body seeking a direction to the Centre to implement the decision of the apex court Collegium on an elevation of Bombay High Court judge Justice Akil Kureshi as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court. A bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that he has received instructions from the central government in the matter and urged that the plea of the Gujarat High Court's bar body be heard on November 4 after the Diwali break.

The bench, which also comprised justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer, accepted the request. Senior advocate Haren Raval, appearing for the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA), alleged that the Centre is yet to comply with the Supreme Court Collegium's subsequent decision of elevating justice Kureshi as Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.

The Collegium had initially recommended elevation of Justice Kureshi as Chief Justice (CJ) of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and later after taking note of the Centre's communication it transferred him to the Tripura High Court as the CJ. The petition, filed by the GHCAA, had alleged that the Collegium's recommendations have not been complied with by the Centre.

Appointment and transfer of judges form "the root of the administration of justice" and interference in that "does not augur well" for the institution, the bench had said when the bar body had alleged that the Collegium's recommendations are not being implemented by the government. The GHCAA, in its plea, had sought a direction to the Centre to implement the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendations on elevation and transfer of Justice Kureshi.

The Collegium, headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi, had recommended to the Centre to appoint Justice Kureshi as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. It later recommended that Justice Kureshi be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.

The modified recommendation to send Justice Kureshi to the Tripura High Court was later uploaded on the apex court's website and it said that the concerned decision was taken in the Collegium's meeting held on September 5. Appointment of Justice Kureshi as chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court was recommended by the Collegium on May 10 this year.

The GHCAA plea has claimed that the Centre did not clear the file for appointment of Justice Kureshi and on June 7 came out with a notification appointing Justice Ravi Shanker Jha as acting Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The association has contended that the reluctance of the Centre to appoint Justice Kureshi as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court is against the procedure laid down in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) and amounts to a violation of Articles 14 and 217 of the Constitution.

It has further said 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. GHCAA president Yatin Oza had reportedly said Justice Kureshi was being singled out for an order passed by him in 2010, remanding current Union Home Minister Amit Shah in police custody.

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