In a historic move, the Supreme Court Collegium has referred the names of three persons to be appointed judges of Kerala High Court. The Collegium, formed to ensure transparency in judicial appointments, has recommended the names of Ashok Menon, Annie John and Narayana Pisharadi R as the judges.
The resolution, uploaded on the website of the apex court, provides details on the elevation of the three judicial officers, whose names were recommended by the then Chief Justice of Kerala High Court on 2 February 2017 in consultation with two of his senior-most colleagues.
The names were selected by a panel consisting of Chief Justice Misra, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph. The selected are Kerala High Court Registrar General Ashok Menon, Thrissur District Judge Annie John and Registrar (Vigilance) Narayana Pisharadi R.
While clearing the three names from Kerala, the Collegium noted that nothing adverse was found against them, either from the High Court Collegium or in the intelligence reports.
These names had received the concurrence of the Chief Minister and the Governor of Kerala. The resolution will need the approval of Central Ministry and the President.
Similarly, the Collegium recommended the appointment of S Ramathilagam, R Tharani, and P Rajamanickam as Judges of the Madras High Court.
The Collegium has recommended the names of the T Krishnavalli, R Pongiappan, and R Hemalatha for appointment as Judges of the Madras High Court.
In the case of Madras High Court, ten names were recommended, and six were found suitable for appointment as high court judges based on the criteria adopted by the Collegium.
The Supreme Court Collegium decided to upload the decisions taken by it, including on elevation, transfer and confirmation of judges, on apex court website to ensure transparency in its proceedings.
The Collegium is headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and has four senior-most judges of the apex court—justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph.
“The decisions henceforth taken by the Collegium indicating reasons, shall be put on the website of Supreme Court, when recommendation(s) is/are sent to Government with regard to cases relating to initial elevation to High Court Bench, confirmation as permanent Judge(s) of High Court, elevation to the post of Chief Justice of High Court, transfer of High Court Chief Justices/Judges and elevation to Supreme Court, because on each occasion, the material which is considered by the Collegium is different.
The Resolution is passed to ensure transparency and yet maintain confidentiality in the Collegium system,” the resolution, adopted on 3 October, said.