Justice Vazifdar, in a communication to the Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court, had said: “I… in any event would not like to arrange the roster for the period after my retirement. Please seek orders from the seniormost judge.”
Ending uncertainty in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal was named acting Chief Justice, hours after Justice S J Vazifdar retired.
In a notification, the Ministry of Law and Justice stated that “the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal, senior-most Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of the High Court” with effect from May 4.
The delay over the naming of Justice Vazifdar’s successor had created uncertainty in the High Court with questions being asked on who would perform the duties of the master of the roster till an appointment was made.
Justice Vazifdar, in a communication to the Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court, had said: “I… in any event would not like to arrange the roster for the period after my retirement. Please seek orders from the seniormost judge.”
High Court Registrar General Arun Kumar Tyagi told The Indian Express “I have not yet received any information… no communication has been received yet in this regard.”
Senior Advocate M L Sarin, who has been practising for nearly five decades, said the delay over the appointment was “unprecedented… either we have had a Chief Justice or an acting Chief Justice. I believe since there is no notification at present, the institution is headless.” The notification came hours later.
In February, The Indian Express reported that two days after the Collegium recommended the appointment of Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Surya Kant as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, Supreme Court judge Justice A K Goel sent a letter to Chief Justice Dipak Misra putting on record his “respectful disagreement with the proposal”.
Justice Goel’s opinion was sought by the CJI as he had served in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In legal parlance, Justice Goel is a “consultee judge” — consultee judges are Supreme Court judges who need not be members of the Collegium but their views are taken regarding the elevation of judges from the High Courts they have served earlier. The opinion of the consultee judges, while important, isn’t binding but is sent to the government along with the recommendation.
The nomination of Justice Surya Kant sought to supersede Justice A K Mittal, his brother judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court who is senior to him. This was noted in the minutes of the January 10 meeting of the Collegium uploaded on the SC website: “Though Mr Justice A K Mittal is senior to Mr Justice Surya Kant in the seniority of judges of the Punjab & Haryana HC, having regard to all relevant factors and since we consider Mr Justice Surya Kant more suitable than Mr Justice A K Mittal, we are not recommending name of the latter, for the present, for appointment as Chief Justice.”