Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai on Thursday said the Supreme Court was trying to prod the Centre to clear the appointment of judges for high courts.

CJI Gavai also agreed to list after a fortnight two separate petitions seeking contempt proceedings against the government for failing to clear a large number of names for judgeship despite the collegium clearing some of them in 2019.

Sitting on a bench with Justice Vinod Chandran, the CJI told senior advocate Arvind Datar and advocate Prashant Bhushan: “We are also pursuing the matter on our administrative side. But certain names have been cleared, we are working on that….”

The bench made the observations after Datar, representing the Bengaluru Advocates Association, and Bhushan, on behalf of NGO Common Cause, through separate petitions, had sought contempt proceedings against the government for blocking the collegium’s recommendations despite reiterations. The counsel complained that their petitions had not come up for hearing after December 5 last year following the retirement of then presiding judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.

“The matter last came up on December 5 last year. It was listed sometime back, but dropped from the list suddenly. There are names recommended in 2019 and reiterated in 2021 and 2022, but still pending,” Datar told the bench while seeking early listing of their petitions. “These names are there for four years. They lose seniority,” the senior counsel said.

The CJI, without naming any individual, said a candidate from Delhi who was recommended for elevation had withdrawn her name following an inordinate delay by the Centre in clearing the name. The reference was to Shwetashree Majumdar. Bhushan said she was a topper from the National Law School. Later, the CJI said the matter would be listed after two weeks.