Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde’s final push for the collegium to make its first recommendation of a judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court during his 14-month tenure has fallen short, making him perhaps the first CJI in the judicial history to earn this unsought distinction.
The meeting on Thursday failed to finalise any name for appointment to the Supreme Court, in what was possibly the last such meet to be headed by Justice Bobde in his tenure, people familiar with the matter said.
Justice Bobde will be the first CJI in the judicial history who will retire without making recommendation for a single appointment in the top court despite having a term of more than a year after the advent of the collegium system in 1990s. He retires on April 23.
Even during an unprecedented standoff between the judiciary and the central government over the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) that aimed to redefine the appointment process, the then CJI, HL Dattu, made one appointment; of justice Amitava Roy in February 2015.
On Thursday, the CJI had a brief meeting with the other members of the collegium, which includes justices NV Ramana, Rohinton F Nariman, Uday U Lalit and AM Khanwilkar. The meeting took place even as the notification for appointment of Justice Ramana as the next CJI had come through two days ago. The meeting was held as agreed upon by the five senior judges in their last meet on March 17.
{{/usCountry}}On Thursday, the CJI had a brief meeting with the other members of the collegium, which includes justices NV Ramana, Rohinton F Nariman, Uday U Lalit and AM Khanwilkar. The meeting took place even as the notification for appointment of Justice Ramana as the next CJI had come through two days ago. The meeting was held as agreed upon by the five senior judges in their last meet on March 17.
{{/usCountry}}Some of the names of HC judges were briefly discussed in the meeting but the deliberation remained inconclusive, and no decision was taken on recommending any name to the central government for the elevation, the people cited above said.