SC no to Centre's plea to reject PILs on judges' appointment

The Supreme Court on Monday asserted that it cannot "run away from its own cause" and refused to budge on the Centre's plea that the petitions on judicial reforms, including appointments of judges in the high courts and the apex court, should not be heard on the "judicial side" and be rejected.

A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said that once a petition has been admitted for hearing by issuing notice, it cannot be wished away without a "formal order" of finality.

"It is our cause. How can we run away from our own cause," the bench, also comprising Justice N V Ramana, said when Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Centre and a lawyer, who has sought to intervene in the proceedings, submitted that this court should not hear the pleas.

The bench also prima facie did not agree with the contention of lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhaya, one of the PIL petitioners, that there should be all India judicial services to select judges.

"In a federal structure, the high court is the highest court of the state and it is not under the control either of the central government or the Supreme Court," it said.