Complaints gone into, were baseless: SC to govt on judges
The Chief Justice of India is learnt to have conveyed to the government that allegations against two high court chief justices, whose names were recently recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court, had been considered before the apex court collegium sent its recommendation to the government.
Sources told The Indian Express that the Supreme Court had found the allegations baseless and it was decided, therefore, to ignore them while recommending the names for elevation.
With this, decks have been cleared for appointment of the three nominees — Orissa High Court Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda, Madras High Court Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Vikramjit Sen — to the Supreme Court. This is likely to happen next week.
Complaints had been made to the president and prime minister by some persons against CJs Gowda and Eqbal. Last week, PM Manmohan Singh asked the Union Law Ministry to seek a clarification from the CJI on whether the allegations had been considered before the collegium recommended their names.
While a PTI report on Saturday said the government had requested the collegium to reconsider the names of the three senior judges recommended for elevation, government sources said the names were not sent back for reconsideration. All that the government had requested for was a clarification on the allegations.
Sources also said no complaint or allegation had been levelled against the third nominee named by the PTI report, CJ Vikramjit Sen.
