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Synopsis

The Supreme Court has held that the process of judicial appointments to a superior court is not the prerogative of a single individual but a collaborative and participatory process involving all Collegium members.

It has further observed that the underlying principle is that the process of appointment of judges must reflect the collective wisdom that draws from diverse perspectives which ensures that principles of transparency and accountability are maintained.

"...collaborative deliberations bring in transparency in the process, as decisions are deliberated, debated, and recorded. This contributes to public trust in the judiciary, as it demonstrates that appointments are being made based on thorough consideration...", a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra has said.

These observations came to be made by the Supreme Court while deciding a writ petition filed by the two seniormost District and Sessions Judges serving in the State of Himachal Pradesh.

The petitioners i.e. Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra were recommended by the then Collegium of the High Court on 6th December 2022 for elevation as judges of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. On 12th July 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium, deferred their consideration and later on 4th January,2024, the Supreme Court Collegium in its wisdom resolved that the proposal for the elevation of both be remitted for reconsideration to the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

On 16th January 2024, a letter addressed by the Minister for Law and Justice to the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh, in reference to the Supreme Court Collegium Resolution dated 4th January,2024, a request was made that fresh recommendations be sent for the two officers against the available service quota vacancies in the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Before the Supreme Court, grievance of the writ petitioners is that the High Court Collegium without first reconsidering the two petitioners in terms of the Supreme Court Collegium Resolution dated 4th January,2024 as communicated in the Law Minister’s letter dated 16th January,2024 had recommended two other judicial officers for elevation.

The court considered the issue "whether elevation for judgeship in the High Court has to be considered collectively by the High Court Collegium or whether the Chief Justice acting individually can reconsider the same?".

It thus observed that recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium for reconsideration, is not expected to be addressed individually to all the members of the High Court Collegium. Such communications are naturally addressed to the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court but as noted earlier, the letter addressed to the Chief Justice will not enable the Chief Justice to act without participation by the other two Collegium members, it said.

Court noted that the instant case was one where there was no collective consultation amongst the three Constitutional functionaries of the High Court i.e. the Chief Justice and the two senior-most companion judges. 

"The absence of the element of plurality, in the process of reconsideration as directed by the Supreme Court Collegium, is clearly discernible.....the procedure adopted in the matter of reconsideration of the two petitioners is found to be inconsistent with the law laid down in the Second Judges (supra) and the Third Judges case(supra). There was no collective consultation and deliberations by the members of the High Court Collegium. The decision of the Chief Justice of the High Court, on the suitability of the two petitioners as conveyed in his letter dated 6th March 2024, appears to be an individual decision. The same therefore stand vitiated both procedurally and substantially.", the bench held.

With this view the bench has directed the High Court Collegium to now reconsider the names of Mr. Chirag Bhanu Singh and Mr. Arvind Malhotra for elevation as Judges of the High Court, following the Supreme Court Collegium decision dated 4th January,2024 and the Law Minister’s letter dated 16th January,2024. 

Case Title: CHIRAG BHANU SINGH & ANR. vs. HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH & ORS.