A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Okay Mishra gave this ruling whereas directing Himachal Pradesh HC collegium to rethink the suitability of two district judges – Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra – for appointment as HC judges.
Singh and Malhotra had collectively moved a petition questioning the validity of HC CJ‘s particular person resolution to say no reconsideration of their names even after the SC collegium had on Jan 4 requested the HC collegium to rethink their suitability. HC had questioned maintainability of the petition because it appeared to query the collegium system of choosing individuals for appointment as HC judges.
Ruling in favour of the 2 district judges, the bench stated the petition was maintainable, mentioning a procedural lapse because the HC CJ had individually taken the choice when it ought to have been taken collectively by the CJ and two most senior judges of HC.
“The choice of the HC CJ, on the suitability of the 2 petitioners as conveyed in his letter dated sixth March 2024, seems to be a person resolution. The identical due to this fact stands vitiated each procedurally and considerably,” the bench stated.
Writing the judgment, Justice Roy stated the letter addressed by the SC collegium to the HC CJ doesn’t allow him to behave with out participation by the opposite two collegium members. “This court docket is conscious of the restricted scope of interference in such issues. However this seems to be a case the place there was no collective session amongst the three Constitutional functionaries of excessive court docket i.e. the chief justice and two senior-most companion judges,” he stated.
“Absence of the ingredient of plurality, within the strategy of reconsideration as directed by the SC collegium, is clearly discernible,” the bench stated.
HC had proven SC a letter written by one of many judicial officers giving vent to his harm emotions for getting ignored by HC regardless of having an unblemished judicial document and argued that the letter was contemptuous.
Brushing apart HC’s argument, Justices Roy and Mishra stated, “We now have perused the letter. It’s undoubtedly an expression of harm by the judicial officer however won’t deliver the letter into the contemptuous class.”
“In mild of the above, the HC collegium ought to now rethink the names of Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra for elevation as judges of HC, following the SC Collegium resolution dated 4th Jan, 2024 and legislation minister’s letter dated sixteenth Jan, 2024. It’s ordered accordingly,” SC stated.