Make judges’ names public, say jurists

Jurists demanded that names of judges being considered for promotion be made public, a day after the Centre returned a recommendation to promote Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Chandramauli Prasad to the Supreme Court, reports Nagendar Sharma.

Jurists on Friday demanded that names of judges being considered for promotion be made public, a day after the Centre returned a recommendation to promote Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Chandramauli Prasad to the Supreme Court.

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The jurists, led by Fali S. Nariman, Ram Jethmalani and Shanti Bhushan, said the rejection of two recommendations made by the Supreme Court panel of seniormost judges (collegium) was disturbing.

“We are disturbed that recommendations have been made without any transparency and without proper verification of the antecedents and reputation of those recommended,” they said in a statement.

“No names should be recommended for appointment until these have been made public, and members of the bar and public are enabled to share the relevant information that they might have about the proposed appointees with the collegium,” said the statement issued by the Committee on Judicial Accountability.

The law ministry declined the recommendation for Prasad. Prasad was recommended with Bombay High Court Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar, who was sworn in as Supreme Court judge on Friday.

The process to promote Prasad was stalled when the file reached Rashtrapati Bhavan for final approval, sources said.

Prasad’s office did not comment.