SC collegium to meet today on Justice Joseph's elevation issue

The Collegium had, on January 10, recommended the names of Justice K. M. Joseph and Justice Indu Malhotra for elevation to the Supreme Court. While the Centre had cleared Justice Indu Malhotra's file, it sent Justice Joseph's file back to the Collegium and asked it to reconsider its recommendation.

Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court Justice KM Joseph. Photo: File

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Collegium meeting will be conducted today to discuss the issue of reconsidering the name of Uttarakhand Chief Justice K M Joseph for elevation to the apex court. Previously, his name was returned by the Centre saying the proposal was not in accordance with the top court's parameters and there was an adequate representation of Kerala in the higher judiciary from where he hails. The collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and comprising of Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, had earlier met on May 2 to reconsider the issue. Though there was no official word on it, the sources said it could take place any time after the completion of the matters on the board of the five judges. It is pertinent to mention that Justice J Chelameswar, the senior-most judge of the apex court, had also written a letter to the CJI asking him to convene the Collegium's meeting to urgently forward Justice Joseph's name to the Centre. Justice Kurian Joseph, during his visit to Kerala last week, had also reportedly made it clear that he was in favour of reiterating the recommendation of the collegium on the issue of Uttarakhand Chief Justice Joseph.