CJI Ranjan Gogoi backs Narendra Modi government over appointment of judges

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi. (Reuters)

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on Friday backed the Narendra Modi government over the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary. Gogoi cleared the air regarding the delay in the appointment of judges and said that if there was any delay then it was because of the collegium and not the Union of India. This statement by the Chief Justice of India comes after, a petition was heard that was filed by a Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) which is a non-government organization (NGO), according to a Hindustan Times report.

Ranjan Gogoi is the head of the three-member collegium that is responsible for the appointment of high court judge. The CJI disagreed with the petition by CPIL that stated that the government had been sitting on recommendations made by the collegium to appoint high court judges.

The bench hearing the petition included CJI Gogoi along with Justice Sanjiv Khanna. The observed that, “How can you say that? Appointment are happening, some of the names are pending with the collegium. As the Chief Justice, I am telling you that whatever is pending is mostly before the collegium. There are almost 70-80 proposals pending before the Supreme Court collegium and hardly 27 before the government.”