Retired judge slams Centre, moves SC for Justice KM Joseph's elevation

A retired district Judge from Solapur, Maharashtra, G D Inamdar has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking Uttarakhand Chief Justice K M Joseph's immediate elevation to the apex court.

The PIL filed by the retired district judge has also sought a direction to the Centre to issue warrants of appointment for Justice Joseph with consequential seniority.

He approached the Supreme Court seeking urgent action on the quashing of the "illegal and unconstitutional" move of the Central government by segregating Justice Joseph's name whose name for elevation had been recommended by the apex court collegium.

"The petitioner is aggrieved by the shocking manner in which the Central Government has unilaterally and capriciously segregated and rejected the name of Hon'ble Justice K M Joseph - recommended by the Collegium for appointment as a Judge of this Hon'ble Court, while at the same time accepting the recommendation for elevation of Ms Indu Malhotra, Senior Advocate, as a Judge of this Hon'ble Court," the petition said.

Supreme Court crisis: Bar Council forms team and top 10 developments

The Bar Council of India has set up a seven-member team in an attempt to resolve the differences between the four dissenting Supreme Court judges and Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra. The team is expected to start its deliberations with all judges, except the top five, immediately.
The Supreme Court Bar Association also passed a resolution on Saturday that the rift should be considered by a full bench of the apex court. It also said that the CJI or senior judges should look at all public interest litigations.

Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the four Supreme Court judges who virtually revolted against the chief justice, on Saturday said there was no need for an outside intervention to solve the issue, while the apex court bar body called for a full court consideration of the matter. Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who was also among the four judges, told PTI in Kolkata, "There is no crisis." He made the remark on the sidelines of a programme, when asked about the way forward to resolve the crisis in the top court.

Justice Joseph said the matter was not brought to the attention of the President of India as he has no constitutional responsibility over the Supreme Court or the judges of the apex court. He said there was no constitutional lapse from the part of CJI but convention, practice, and procedure has to be followed while carrying out his responsibility. "We just brought that matter to his attention," he said at an event near Kochi.
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