Govt asks SC collegium to rethink its pick for Andhra HC

New Delhi: The government is learnt to have asked the Supreme Court collegium to reconsider its recommendation to elevate a judge of the Allahabad High Court as chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

While returning the file of Justice Vikram Nath last month, the government did not cite any reason, sources said.

This is perhaps the first recommendation to be returned to the collegium by the present government. The NDA-I had returned several recommendations back to the collegium.

On April 8, the collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had recommended the name of Justice Nath for elevation as chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

"Mr Justice Vikram Nath is the senior-most Judge from Allahabad High Court and is functioning in that high court since his elevation. Having regard to all relevant factors, the collegium finds Justice Vikram Nath suitable in all respects for being appointed as the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The collegium resolves to recommend accordingly," a resolution uploaded on the Supreme Court website read. See P6