Delhi HC dismisses plea against SC collegium recommendations

The Delhi high court dismissed on Wednesday a plea challenging its single judge order rejecting a petition to restrain the Supreme Court collegium from recommending appointments to the higher judiciary. 

"The appeal against the single judge order is dismissed," a bench of chief justice G Rohini and justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said. 

Delhi-based lawyer RP Luthra, while filing the appeal, had told the bench that he was not arguing for the removal of the judges who were elevated to the apex court but had claimed that the collegium system for recommending appointments to the higher judiciary was "unconstitutional". 

"I am not for removing judges. This is not my grievance. I have come here for protection of my fundamental rights ... I am against the system which is in function," he had told the bench during the hearing earlier. 

On this, when the bench asked "how your fundamental rights have been violated", the advocate had said the recommendation of the collegium was not transparent as only some of the lawyers were?considered for elevation. 

Additional solicitor general (ASG) Sanjay Jain had said that all the lawyers cannot be considered to be appointed as judges in the higher judiciary. 

"The comparative study which he (petitioner) is making is beyond the purview of judicial review," the ASG had contended then. 

The high court in May last year too had dismissed two similar pleas. One of them was filed by Luthra, which had sought to put a restraint on the government from acting on the collegium's recommendation for elevating three high court chief justices and a senior lawyer to the apex court.