The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Himachal High Court Collegium to consider the candidature of district judges Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra for elevation to the high court, saying there was no collective discussion and deliberations as required under its verdicts on judicial appointments.
“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 (1993) and the Third Judges case(1998). There was no collective consultation and deliberations by the members of the High Court Collegium,” a Bench led by Justice Hrishikesh Roy said.
“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,” said the Bench which also included Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra.
The Chief Justice of a High Court cannot individually reconsider a recommendation and it can only be done by the High Court Collegium acting collectively,” the top court said.
“The High Court Collegium should 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,” it said, allowing the petition of the two aggrieved judicial officers.
Petitioners Singh and Malhotra—presently serving as the district and sessions judges at Bilaspur and Solan, respectively – alleged that their names have not been considered by the high court Collegium for elevation despite being referred to the high court Collegium by the Supreme Court Collegium for reconsideration.
The duo contended that the Himachal Pradesh High Court Collegium ignored their merit and seniority while recommending names for elevation to the high court.
“The High Court Collegium has to reconsider the recommendations in accordance with Supreme Court resolutions,” the Bench said, reminding the High Court Collegium of the January 4 resolution of the Supreme Court collegium asking the High Court to consider the petitioners’ candidature.
“This appears to be a case 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,” it noted.
Singh and Malhotra were recommended by the then Collegium of the High Court on December 6, 2022 for elevation as judges of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. On July 12, 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium, however, deferred their consideration. Thereafter, on January 4, 2024, the Supreme Court Collegium in its wisdom resolved that the proposal for their elevation be remitted for reconsideration to the Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice.
The top court had on May 13 issued notice to the Himachal Pradesh High Court Registrar General on a petition filed by two senior-most district and sessions judges alleging that they were ignored by the high court Collegium in elevation, despite their seniority and unblemished career record.
The Bench had specifically sought to know if the high court collegium considered the petitioners’ name or not.
The high court collegium didn’t consider their names and proceeded to deliberate upon names of other junior judicial officers, they alleged.
The process adopted by the High Court Collegium stood procedurally and substantially vitiated as the same was contrary to established constitutional convention, they submitted.
“The petitioners are the senior most judicial officers in the state and they have unblemished records,” senior counsel Arvind Datar had said, adding it would cause serious prejudice to the expectations of the petitioners if they were not considered for elevation.
Questioning the process for elevation of judicial officers by the high court collegium, he had said the petitioners’ merit and seniority were ignored despite the issue being specifically referred to in the top court collegium’s January 4, 2024 resolution.
Datar had also referred to a subsequent communication of the Union Ministry of Law and Justice to the Himachal Pradesh High Court and said the petitioners’ names should have been considered by the High Court Collegium.
