The Supreme Court collegium on Wednesday iterated the names of two high court chief justices for elevation as judges to the apex court, rejecting the Centre’s reservations.
The names of Aniruddha Bose, the chief justice of Jharkhand High Court, and A.S. Bopanna, the chief justice of Gauhati High Court, were earlier returned by the Centre.
On Wednesday, the five-member collegium of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S.A. Bobde, N.V. Ramana, Arun Mishra and R.F. Nariman resolved to reiterate the names of the two judges who were first recommended on April 12.
Sources told The Telegraph that the collegium had “unanimously resolved and reiterated” the earlier recommendations and had made it clear that the two names must be expeditiously cleared, thus making it mandatory for the government to comply.
The parent high courts of Justices Bose and Bopanna are Calcutta and Karnataka, respectively. The Centre reportedly suggested that since these two high courts were already represented in the Supreme Court, the new judges could have been chosen from other high courts.
Under the memorandum of procedure, the Centre has to accept the recommendations once the apex court iterates them.