Supreme Court Collegium changed recommendation on Centre’s ‘sensitive information’, changed names for CJs of 3 High Courts

New Delhi : The Supreme Court Collegium has reconsidered its recommendations made in July for the post of Chief Justice of different High Courts. The Central Government had given ‘sensitive information’ to the Collegium regarding some names, after which it not only reconsidered the names but also made 3 major changes. Our colleague ‘Times of India’ reported that after finding merit in the ‘sensitive information’ received from the government, the Collegium on Tuesday reconsidered its earlier recommendations. The Supreme Court Collegium had sent recommendations to the Central Government on July 11 for the appointment of Chief Justices of 7 High Courts. Now it has made changes in three. The Collegium, headed by CJI DY Chandrachud and comprising Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice BR Gavai, reconsidered the names on Tuesday. The Collegium had earlier recommended Justice Suresh Kumar Kait to be made the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, Justice GS Sandhawalia to be the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court and Justice Tashi Rabstan to be the Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court.

Now Justice Rabstan’s name has been sent for the post of Chief Justice of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. This is also his/her parent High Court. Similarly, Justice Kait’s name has been sent for the post of Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court and Justice Sandhawalia’s name has been sent for the post of Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Now the Collegium has recommended Justice Indra Prasanna Mukherjee to be made the Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court. Justice Mukherjee is currently a judge in the Calcutta High Court. Justice Rabstan will now be made the Chief Justice of his/her home state Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. he/she has less than a year left for his/her retirement.

The Collegium has reversed its decision to appoint Justice Kait as the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. he/she has now been appointed as the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. Justice Kait belongs to the Dalit community.

Justice Sandhawalia will now be the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court instead of Madhya Pradesh. he/she will replace Justice Rajiv Shakdhar who is retiring on October 18. On July 11, the Collegium recommended Justice Shakdhar to be made the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court. In this way, Justice Shakdhar’s tenure will be less than a month.

In its statement, the Collegium has said that the rest of the recommendations made on July 11 will remain unchanged. These include recommendations to appoint Justice Manmohan as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Shakdhar as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court, Justice Nitin M Jamdar as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court and Justice K R Sriram as Chief Justice of Madras High Court.

Last week, Attorney General R Venkataramani told a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that the government has some serious and sensitive information. Due to this information, the appointment of Chief Justices of 7 High Courts has been delayed. The Attorney General had said that this information is very sensitive, so he/she will hand it over to the Chief Justice in a sealed envelope.