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Synopsis

The Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud today brought to the Attorney General's notice the contempt petition filed by Jharkhand government against the Centre's non-clearance of the Resolution passed by the Collegium appointing the Chief Justice for the Jharkhand High Court.

This happened as AG R Venkataramani mentioned the issue of appointment of judges, which is listed for tomorrow. The AG requested CJI Chandrachud to adjourn the matter saying the Centre would soon decide on the pending Collegium resolutions regarding the appointment of Chief Justices of High Courts.

When the CJI told AG about the Jharkhand government's petition, the AG responded saying he was unaware of it.

It is incumbent upon the Union Government to clear the names recommended by the Collegium, and make the appointments, within a reasonable time frame. Once a name has been reiterated by the Collegium, there is no option but for the government to make the appointment, Jharkhand government's petition submits.

Concerned with the extraordinary delays in the appointment of Judges to the High Court of Jharkhand as well as the rest of the High Courts across the country, which is detrimental to the cherished principle of the independence of the judiciary, the state government has said this inordinate delay is in direct contravention of the decision of a Nine Judges bench in the Second Judges case.

The plea adds that it is a very dangerous precedent if the Executive confers upon itself the power to implement only those binding
recommendations that are to its liking and choose not to implement the others. 

Arguing Chief Justice of the High Court performs important administrative functions and not having a Chief Justice affects the administration of Justice in the State, the petition submits, "The Collegium had acted promptly and recommended well in advance the vacancy arising on the post of Chief Justice of Jharkhand on 11.07.2024. By not acting on the collegium resolution would result in affecting the administration of Justice in the State of Jharkhand.".

Filed through Advocate Jayant Mohan, the petition has been filed for gross non-compliance of the directions issued in 2021 in a Transfer Petition (C) No. 2419 of 2019 being M/s PLR Projects Pvt. Ltd. v. Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. & Ors., by which a time schedule was set for the appointment of Judges.