New Delhi, Twenty-five names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment as high court judges largely across five high courts are pending with the government, with the oldest one being of advocate Saurabh Kirpal awaiting a final decision since October 2017.
But the top court collegium is learnt to have deferred deliberations on his name three times. In November next year,the government had returned his file to the SC collegium for reconsideration. After the collegium reiterated its stand, the file has remained pending. High court collegiums send their recommendations to appoint judicial officers and advocates as judges to the department of justice in the Union law ministry.
Finally, the collegium headed by then CJI N V Ramana took a decision in favour of Kirpal in November 2021.
The number of recommendations for appointment as high court judges pending with the central government have gone down considerably as compared to the recent past, sources aware of the process to appoint Supreme Court and high court judges told PTI. The sources cited above said the other names pending with the government are relatively new except two others besides that of Kirpal.
