23 reiterated by SC collegium for hiring as judges pending

New Delhi: Names of 23 candidates recommended by various high court collegiums since 2018 and reiterated by the Supreme Court collegium were pending with the government at the end of 2021, people aware of the process of appointments to the higher judiciary have said. At least seven high courts had recommended these names for appointment as high court (HC) judges, the sources said. They said the 23 names were returned by the government with a request to reconsider.

But the Supreme Court (SC) collegium reiterated these names on different occasions.

Two of the names -- one for appointment as judge of the Karnataka HC and the other for appointment as judge of the Jammu and Kashmir HC -- have been reiterated by the SC collegium to the government twice, they noted.

Both the candidates are advocates. While the name of the candidate from Jammu and Kashmir was recommended in 2018, the name of the candidate from Karnataka was recommended in 2019. As on December 31, 2021, 23 such names recommended by various HC collegiums since 2018, and later reiterated by the SC collegium after being returned by the Executive, were pending with the government.