Justice KM Joseph . (File Photo/PTI)
The months-long deadlock between the Centre and judiciary is likely to end with the government reportedly agreeing to the Supreme Court Collegium's decision to elevate Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph to the apex court. The Centre has also given its nod for the elevation of Madras High Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Orissa High Court Chief Justice Vineet Saran.
With this the public spat between the government and higher judiciary over the issue of appointments of judges in the Supreme Court seems to have been put to rest.
Justice Joseph's name was recommended along with then senior advocate Indu Malhotra on January 10 for their elevation as apex court judges. The government had on April 26 declined to accept the recommendation of the Collegium and asked it to reconsider his name.
Justice K M Joseph, who had headed the bench that had quashed the Narendra Modi government's decision to impose President's rule in the Congress-ruled Uttarakhand in 2016, was not considered to be elevated as a Supreme Court judge by the Centre which said the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails.
His seniority was also questioned by the Centre which said "he stands at Sl. No.45 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on all-India basis."
Justice Joseph, who turns 60 this June, has been the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court since July 2014. He was appointed a permanent judge of the Kerala High Court on October 14, 2004 and assumed charge of the Uttarakhand High Court on July 31, 2014.
(With PTI inputs)
