Crucial Supreme Court collegium meet on Justice Joseph’s elevation today

The Supreme Court collegium — a group of five senior most judges — will meet on Wednesday to discuss the Centre’s rejection to elevate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph to apex court judge.

According to a notice issued by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Tuesday, the collegium will meet to decide whether to again recommend Justice Joseph’s name for the elevation.

Earlier on April 26, the Modi government had approved the appointment of senior advocate Malhotra as a Supreme Court judge but put on hold its decision on Justice Joseph.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote a letter to CJI Misra, asking him to be “objective and fair” and reconsider its recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph.

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If the collegium decides to re-recommend Joseph, it will become incumbent for the Centre to consider his name for the elevation. In that case, the government can only delay Justice Joseph’s elevation but won’t be able to stop it.

The Centre decision to block the promotion of Joseph was being linked with his 2016 verdict that struck down Narendra Modi government's order to impose President’s rule in Uttarakhand and allowed Harish Rawat-led Congress government to return to power.