SC Collegium Unanimously Reiterates Justice KM Joseph’s Name For Elevation

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium, on Friday, agreed to reiterate the recommendation for the elevation of of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph as a judge of the apex court.

Controversy had erupted after his name was returned by the Centre for reconsideration.

The five-member Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, who had earlier deferred the decision unanimously decided to pitch his name once again for the apex court in the hour long meeting.

Justice Joseph’s name will be accompanied with the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court. Further deliberations will be held in another meeting on May 16.

“The Chief Justice and other members of the Collegium have, on principle, unanimously agreed that the recommendation for appointment of Justice K M Joseph, Chief Justice, Uttarakhand High Court [Parent High Court: Kerala] as a Judge of the Supreme Court should be reiterated. However, they said reiteration should also be accompanied by the recommendation of the names of Chief Justices of High Courts for elevation as Judges of the Supreme Court, for which detailed discussion is required,” the resolution read.

In January this year, the Collegium had recommended names of Justice Joseph and Indu Malhotra for elevation to the apex court. Though the Centre had cleared Justice Indu’s name, it had asked the Collegium to reconsider his name, which had caused a political furore, with many in opposition and legal fraternity stating that the stay on Justice Joseph’s appointment was the fallout of his decision to reject President’s rule in Uttarakhand in 2016.