THE Union government has continued with its practice of notifying some names for judgeship while withholding other names disregarding the recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium.
In the latest turn of events, on Monday, the Union government cleared the appointment of two advocates, Ajay Digpaul and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, as judges of the Delhi High Court.
For reasons not available in the public domain, the government has withheld the appointment of advocate Shwetasree Majumder, whose name was also recommended for appointment by the collegium on August 21, 2024.
It is also not clear whether the government has returned the name of Majumder to the collegium for reconsideration or it has simply exercised a pocket veto.
As per the judgment in the Second Judges case of 1993, under which the collegium system was formed, the government is entitled to seek reconsideration of the recommendation made by the collegium but if the name is reiterated by the collegium, the government is obligated to notify the same.
However, the practice has been somewhat different as the incumbent government has been sitting over names for years altogether with no movement on the files.
