Centre Returns Collegium Proposals For Elevation Of Justices Aniruddha Bose & A S Bopanna To SC

The Centre has returned the proposals forwarded by the Supreme Court collegium for elevation of Justice Aniruddha Bose and A S Bopanna as SC judges, reports NDTV.

"The Supreme Court collegium's recommendation to elevate two judges has hit a hurdle, with sources claiming that the centre has returned it over seniority concerns. The government has sought a rethink on the decision"., States the report. 

Justice Aniruddha Bose is currently the Chief Justice of High Court of Jharkhand. Justice A S Bopanna the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court.

The Centre has reportedly sought the reconsideration of the recommendation to maintain the principle of proper regional representation.

It was on April 12 that the SC Collegium of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, and Justices S A Bobde, N V Ramana, R F Nariman and Arun Mishra made the recommendation for their elevation.

Mr. Justice Bose stands at Sl. No.12 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on all India basis. Mr. Justice A.S. Bopanna was appointed as a Judge of the Karnataka High Court on 6 th January, 2006 and was elevated as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court on 29th October, 2018. Mr. Justice Bopanna stands at Sl. No.36 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on all-India basis.

"While recommending these names, the collegium has taken into consideration, apart from their merit and integrity, the combined seniority on all-India basis of Chief Justices and senior judges of high courts. The collegium has also kept in mind the desirability of giving due representation on the bench of the Supreme Court, as far as possible, to all the high courts," , said the Collegium in its resolution.