CJI Khehar to take a call on memorandum of procedure

New Delhi: Differences persist between the Union government and apex court collegium on the memorandum of procedure (MoP) relating to judicial appointments. It is now up to new Chief Justice of India, J.S. Khehar, to sort out the differences and allow finalisation of the MoP to pave way for expeditious filling up of vacancies, which has resulted in accumulation of arrears in various high courts in the country.

Throughout the tenure of former CJI T.S. Thakur, the Centre and the judiciary were at loggerheads, and hence the MoP could not be finalised. Justice Thakur had criticised the government on several occasions for sitting over the recommendations for appointment of HC judges. Rejecting the charge, the Centre had pointed out that in 2016, over 120 appointments were made and the stalemate on the MoP was only because of the collegium’s reluctance to accept certain proposals.

With Justice Khehar heading a new composition of collegium, the Modi government expects more cooperation in the form of give-and-take so that the MoP could be finalised and appointments could be made as per the norms and guidelines. There are eight vacancies in the Supreme Court with a sanctioned strength of 31 judges. Highly-placed sources said the new collegium has short-listed eight names for elevation to the Supreme Court and recommendations are likely to be made in the coming  week.