<p>The government is learnt to have returned a file relating to the elevation of a Karnataka High Court judge as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the Supreme Court collegium with a request to reconsider its decision.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Law Ministry is understood to have returned the file relating to the elevation of Justice K L Manjunath as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Justice R M Lodha.<br /><br />As per practice, Justice Lodha had consulted a senior Supreme Court judge who had served in the Karnataka High Court, on the elevation of Justice Manjunath.<br /><br />The senior judge had flagged certain issues in his two-page note to the SC collegium.<br /><br />Taking note of the issues raised by the senior SC judge, the Law Ministry returned the file to the collegium with a request to reconsider its recommendation.<br /><br />As per the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of High Court judges, the CJI sends his recommendation for the appointment of a puisne judge of the High Court as Chief Justice of High Court in consultation with the two seniormost judges of the Supreme Court.<br /><br />He also ascertains the views of the seniormost colleague in the Supreme Court who is conversant with the affairs of the High Court in which the recommendee has been functioning.<br /><br />If the SC collegium sticks to its recommendation, the government will have to approve the name.<br /><br />This for the second time that the NDA government has returned to the SC collegium file pertaining to appointment of a judge.<br /><br />Chief Justice Lodha had expressed unhappiness at the government's decision to unilaterally segregate the name of senior lawyer Gopal Subramanium's from three others who were appointed to the top court.<br /><br />"I fail to understand how the appointment to a high constitutional post has been dealt with in a casual manner. The segregation of Gopal Subramanium's file was done unilaterally without my knowledge and concurrence which was not proper," Justice Lodha had said.<br /><br />But the government had defended its decision to return the recommendation of the SC collegium saying its move was based on "proper, cogent and sound" grounds.</p>
<p>The government is learnt to have returned a file relating to the elevation of a Karnataka High Court judge as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the Supreme Court collegium with a request to reconsider its decision.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Law Ministry is understood to have returned the file relating to the elevation of Justice K L Manjunath as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Justice R M Lodha.<br /><br />As per practice, Justice Lodha had consulted a senior Supreme Court judge who had served in the Karnataka High Court, on the elevation of Justice Manjunath.<br /><br />The senior judge had flagged certain issues in his two-page note to the SC collegium.<br /><br />Taking note of the issues raised by the senior SC judge, the Law Ministry returned the file to the collegium with a request to reconsider its recommendation.<br /><br />As per the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of High Court judges, the CJI sends his recommendation for the appointment of a puisne judge of the High Court as Chief Justice of High Court in consultation with the two seniormost judges of the Supreme Court.<br /><br />He also ascertains the views of the seniormost colleague in the Supreme Court who is conversant with the affairs of the High Court in which the recommendee has been functioning.<br /><br />If the SC collegium sticks to its recommendation, the government will have to approve the name.<br /><br />This for the second time that the NDA government has returned to the SC collegium file pertaining to appointment of a judge.<br /><br />Chief Justice Lodha had expressed unhappiness at the government's decision to unilaterally segregate the name of senior lawyer Gopal Subramanium's from three others who were appointed to the top court.<br /><br />"I fail to understand how the appointment to a high constitutional post has been dealt with in a casual manner. The segregation of Gopal Subramanium's file was done unilaterally without my knowledge and concurrence which was not proper," Justice Lodha had said.<br /><br />But the government had defended its decision to return the recommendation of the SC collegium saying its move was based on "proper, cogent and sound" grounds.</p>