A Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra granted the request made by District Judges Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra, directing the High Court collegium to reevaluate their candidacies in line with established procedures.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today (6th Sept) allowed a matter involving two senior district judges from Himachal Pradesh, who argued that their merit and seniority were disregarded by the Himachal Pradesh High Court collegium during its recommendations for promotion to the High Court.
A Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra granted the request made by District Judges Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra, directing the High Court collegium to reevaluate their candidacies in line with established procedures.
The two judges approached the Supreme Court, asserting that their merit and seniority were ignored by the High Court collegium, which instead recommended other candidates for elevation to the High Court.
District Judges Chirag Bhanu Singh from Bilaspur and Arvind Malhotra from Solan filed a writ petition challenging this oversight. The Supreme Court concurred with the petitioners, determining that the decision had been made solely by the Chief Justice rather than through a collective collegial process.
The Court remarked,
“The process used for reconsidering the petitioners’ names did not align with the standards set in the Second Judges case. There was a lack of collective discussion and deliberation, suggesting that the decision was made unilaterally by the Chief Justice. The collegium must engage in collective deliberation.”
Additionally, the Court directed that the High Court collegium must consider the Supreme Court collegium’s resolution from January 4, which instructed the High Court to review the petitioners’ cases.
“The High Court collegium must reassess the recommendations in line with the Supreme Court’s resolutions,”
the Court stated.
“The matter is resolved on these terms.”
The Supreme Court noted that the process followed by the High Court collegium was inconsistent with established legal standards from the Second and Third Judges cases. The Court criticized the lack of collective consultation and deliberation among the High Court collegium members, emphasizing that the decision seemed to have been made unilaterally by the Chief Justice of the High Court.
Senior Advocate Arvind Datar, along with advocates Bina Madhavan, S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, Shreyasi Kunwar, Shubhangi Arora, and Niharika Tanneru, represented the judges. They were supported by a team from Lawyer S Knit & Co.
For the Himachal Pradesh High Court, Senior Advocates Dr. S. Muralidhar and K. Parameshwar, together with advocates Kanti, Shreenivas Patil, Chitransha Singh Sikarwar, and Raji Gururaj, provided legal representation.
On September 6, 2024, the Supreme Court ordered the collegium of the Himachal Pradesh High Court to re-evaluate the names of Singh and Malhotra for potential elevation to the High Court. This directive aligns with a previous resolution by the Supreme Court collegium dated January 4, 2024, and a subsequent letter from the Law Minister dated January 16, 2024, which called for the reconsideration of the petitioners’ names.
The petitioners contended that their qualifications were not adequately considered during the evaluation process. They requested that the Himachal Pradesh High Court collegium reassess their suitability for elevation according to the Supreme Court collegium’s January 4, 2024, resolution.
Additionally, they sought to halt the consideration of other candidates until their grievance was resolved.
In December 2022, the names of Singh and Malhotra were initially recommended for promotion to the High Court. However, the Supreme Court collegium deferred the matter on July 12, 2023, promising to revisit it later.
On January 4, 2024, the Supreme Court collegium sent the proposal back to the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court for a fresh assessment. A subsequent letter from the Union Minister of Law and Justice on January 16, 2024, urged a reconsideration of the petitioners’ names.
On May 13, 2024, the Court requested a report from the Registrar General of the Himachal Pradesh High Court to confirm whether the collegium had adhered to the Supreme Court’s instructions. Following the submission of this report on July 15 and after hearing arguments on August 6, the bench reserved its judgment.
In a separate matter, the Court recently declined to entertain a petition by two district judges from Kerala challenging the Kerala High Court collegium’s failure to consider their names for elevation.
