Day 8 Arguments
Elevation of Justice KureshiSeptember 23rd 2019
The Supreme Court is hearing a petition by Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) praying for the immediate appointment of Justice Akil Kureshi as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The GHCAA filed its petition after the Union Law Ministry failed to respond to the May 10th Collegium resolution, recommending Justice Kureshi for the position. The GHCAA claimed that the Law Ministry sought to halt Justice Kureshi’s appointment by not responding and thereby subverting the procedure for appointing High Court judges.
At the end of August, the Law Ministry finally sent a reply to the Collegium, requesting that Justice Kureshi be transferred to a different High Court. After taking the replies into consideration, on September 5th the Collegium recommended Justice Kureshi for the post of Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.
The Bench comprising CJI Gogoi, Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose JJ assembled at 11:34 AM.
In today’s hearing, the Bench directed that the petition be left pending until the Union Government notifies Justice Kureshi’s appointment, fulfilling Sr. Adv. Arvind Datar’s request for the same. In addition, the Bench explicitly observed that powers of judicial review are limited with regards to the appointment and transfer of judges, which are administrative matters.
The Registrar was directed to list the matter after the Union ‘acts on the proposal of the Collegium’.