Chief Justice meets Attorney General after controversy over Justice KM Joseph’s seniority

Government cleared Justice KM Joseph for appointment as a Supreme Court judge last week, but altered his seniority.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Monday met Attorney General K K Venugopal amid a controversy over the government altering the seniority granted to Justice KM Joseph while clearing his appointment as a Supreme Court judge last week.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra at the farewell ceremony of the Supreme Court judge Adarsh Kumar Goel on July 6, 2018. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Misra spoke to Venugopal after top Supreme Court judges met at 10.30am to discuss recent appointment of judges.

The appointments of Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran and Joseph to the apex court was cleared by the government on August 3. But the government notification placed Justice Joseph below Justices Banerjee and Saran, thereby making them senior to him in the court’s internal hierarchy.

The government did not respond to Justice Joseph’s name as Supreme Court judge for over four months and sent back his file for reconsideration in April on the grounds that Justice Joseph was not senior enough and that having two judges from the Kerala high court would be against the principles of regional representation.