Elevation of Justice Kureshi: Centre gets more time

The Supreme Court on Friday once again gave the Centre more time to decide on May 10 recommendation of the Collegium to elevate Justice Akil A Kureshi, a judge of Bombay High Court, as chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde and S Abdul Nazeer took into consideration a plea by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that a decision would be taken within a week's time.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the Gujarat HC Advocates Association, pointed out to the delay, saying the court had previously also given time to the Union government to take a decision.

The court, however, said it would take up the matter again next week.

On August 2, Mehta said the decision of the appropriate authority of the government will be taken within a week of the closure of the ongoing Parliamentary Session.

On July 22, he said the matter was still under consideration and the government should be granted two weeks for it.

The court had earlier on July 15 asked Mehta to assist in dealing with the plea.

The PIL claimed the reluctance of the Centre to appoint Justice Kureshi as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh was against the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) and amounted to a violation of Articles 14 and 217 of the Constitution. GHCAA President Yatin Oza had earlier claimed that Justice Kureshi was being singled out for an order passed by him in 2010, remanding current Union Home Minister Amit Shah to police custody.