The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it is 'very very unhappy' with the Centre over the 'cherry-picking of names' recommended for appointment to various tribunals by selection panels headed by the top court judges.
"What is the sanctity of recommendations by the panel headed by sitting top court judges, for various tribunals, if the government has the last say on the matter?" a bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana asked Attorney General K K Venugopal, representing the Centre.
The court said it was very unfortunate to note how the Centre dealt with the recommendations made by Search-cum-Selection panel.
The bench, also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao, pointed out that the panel recommended nine judicial members and 10 technical members for National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) but the appointment letter was issued only to a few and others were kept in waiting list.
"We cannot ignore selected candidates and go to waitlist. What type of selection and appointment is this?" the bench asked Venugopal who maintained that the government has power not to accept the recommendation.
The court, however, said in a democracy one cannot say recommendations made by the panel cannot be accepted.
It is distressing that names recommended by selection panel, which comprised of sitting top court judges and two senior bureaucrats, were not treated seriously, the court added.
The bench gave the Centre two weeks, a last opportunity, to make good the appointments and furnish reasons for names, which were rejected.
“Make all appointments. Appointment is the only solution. We give you two weeks’ time," the bench told Venugopal, directing the Centre to file an affidavit in this regard.
During the hearing, the court also quizzed the Centre on the formation of the National Tribunal Commission.
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(Published 15 September 2021, 06:23 IST)
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