Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra’s appointment as the full-time chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court appears to have run into a fresh hurdle, with the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government yet to convey its views on the Supreme Court collegium’s recommendation to the Centre more than a fortnight after it was forwarded to the state.
The delay assumes significance as the recommendation now finds itself at the intersection of the judicial appointment process and a potentially sensitive political dynamic, with Punjab governed by the Aam Aadmi Party while the Union government is led by the BJP. “It seems there is a tearing hurry to go to SC. Should judges be allowed SC elevation out of turn, bypassing seniority? Under the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) governing the appointment of high court judges, after the Supreme Court collegium makes a recommendation for appointment of a high court chief justice, the Union law ministry obtains the views of the concerned state government before processing the proposal further. The state’s views are then sent onward as part of the process leading to the Prime Minister advising the President on the appointment. The MoP also lays down a six-week period for a state government to convey its comments in the context of judicial appointments. It provides that if the comments are not received within that period, the Union law ministry may presume that the Governor, and in effect the chief minister, has nothing to add to the proposal and proceed accordingly. The six-week deemed-consent provision is expressly set out in the MoP governing appointments of high court judges.
People aware of the matter said that the Union law ministry had sent the collegium’s recommendation to the Punjab government for its comments, but the state was yet to respond. One of the persons cited above told HT that the Bhagwant Mann-government was understood to be “still gathering relevant inputs” on Justice Mishra and would share its views with the Centre after the exercise was completed. The collegium’s recommendation had itself triggered questions from former Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who on August 9 questioned the elevation of Justice Mishra, alleging that his appointment involved “bypassing seniority”. That makes him vulnerable to quid pro quo,” Kejriwal said in a social media post. He went on to question what was examined before a judge was elevated to the Supreme Court and asked whether it was “loyalty to the emperor”.
