Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna have been appointed as Supreme Court judges. The government on Wednesday appointed Karnataka High Court chief justice Dinesh Maheswari and Delhi High Court judge Sanjiv Khanna as judges Supreme Court, according to a notification by the Ministry of Law and Justice. 

The order, issued after President Ram Nath Kovind’s nod, was issued on the recommendation of the country’s five top judges that created a flutter in the legal fraternity.

While recommending the names of Justice Maheshwari and Justice Khanna, the Collegium took into consideration the combined seniority on an all-India basis of Chief Justices and senior puisne judges of High Courts, apart from their merit and integrity.

Karnataka High Court Chief justice Dinesh Maheshwari was recently overlooked for elevation and the Delhi High Court’s justice Sanjeev Khanna is junior to many sitting Chief Justices and puisne judges of the high courts.

The top court is presently functioning with 26 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 31, leaving five clear vacancies.

Controversy over elevation

According to reports, the Collegium on December 12  had recommended Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice Rajendra Menon and Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog for elevation to the top court.

But the decision was reversed on January 10 by the new Collegium, which decided instead to elevate Justice Maheshwari and Justice Sanjeev Khanna.

Justice Kailash Gambhir, former Delhi High Court judge, has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind against the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation to elevate Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna to the apex court by superseding 32 judges.

Markandey Katju, former judge at the Supreme Court of India, alleged that 'it was CJI Gogoi who was adamant on these 2 names and the other Collegium members buckled down before him'. 

'This has sent a very bad signal to judges all over the country that they need not work, since all which will matter for their career is the whims of the CJI,' he wrote in a post on Facebook.