Govt firm on Justice Joseph’s seniority order

Some members of Collegium miffed at judge being listed at 3rd slot

The issue of seniority of the recently appointed three judges of the Supreme Court has created resentment in the judiciary, but the Centre has decided to stick to its ground on placing Justice Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph as the last in the list after Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Vineet Saran. The three-new judges will take oath on Tuesday.

The resentment among some SC judges over downgrading Justice Joseph was evident on Monday as the issue came up during the morning tea meeting of the Chief Justice of India with brother judges. Apparently, some judges took up the matter with the CJI and requested him to urge the Centre to revise the list.

According to the judges supporting Justice Joseph, he was senior to the other two judges recommended to Supreme Court as the recommendation of his name was made by the collegium way back on January 10 this year. However, the collegium sent it a second time with the other two names on July 16.

Later in the day, the CJI spoke to Attorney General KK Venugopal to convey the displeasure of his senior colleagues to the Centre. But ending all speculation of a possible revision of the list, the list of business for Tuesday arrived later in the evening specifying clearly that the Centre is adamant on its decision to go by the date of appointment as High Court judge as the benchmark to rank Justice Joseph below the other two judges. While Justice Joseph became HC judge in 2004, the other two judges had assumed this post in 2002.

The appointment of Justice Joseph has been  mired  in controversy ever since his name was first recommended by the five-judge SC collegium presided by CJI Dipak Misra. For four months, there was no word from the Centre on the file. In April, two letters were shot by the Union Law Minister to the CJI returning Justice Joseph’s name. However, the name of Justice Indu Malhotra sent along with this name got Centre’s approval.

The Centre faulted Joseph’s name as he was ranked 42nd in the all-India seniority ranking among judges. The collegium discussed the Centre’s objection and decided to reiterate its recommendation elevating Justice Joseph. His file was sent along with the other two names on July 16 without specifying which one was to hold precedence. Accordingly, the Centre cleared all three names on August 3 following which the Presidential warrants were issued.