In line with the latest announcement by the the Attorney General, the Center will decide the collegium recommendations made by the Supreme Court within three months. They have been pending with the ministry for over 6 months.
The bench that comprised of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Justice Kishan Kaul and Surya Kant, have recorded this submission made by the AG.
“This case would be brought to a reasonable conclusion if the center tells us the timeline it will be sticking to at every stage”, the court had remarked.
To this, the AG said that the memorandum of the procedure will be followed as strictly sticking to the timeline and added that they will act within a “reasonable period.”
The AG has not received the recommendations from the High Courts for 220 vacancies, which is nearly 50% of the vacancies.
In December 2019, a bench comprising of SK Kaul and KM Joseph had passed an order which stated that the persons recommended by the HC collegium and the Government, have to be appointed within 6 months.
“…The convention lays down that the endeavor should be made that recommendations for vacancies are sent within 6 months prior. The aspect of 6 months arises from the assumption that it would be enough to process and analyze the names from recommendation stage till appointment.” Thus, sending names 6 months prior would be appropriate only if the process till appointment is completed within 6 months, which is a work the Government must attend to,” it had said back in an order passed in November 2019.
Lastly, it was observed that the court observed that the Union Law Ministry must clear the collegium recommendations soon, in a reasonable time.
