Controversy surrounds Himachal Pradesh HC judge appointments as two district judges challenge the decision in Supreme Court, citing alleged favoritism over seniority. Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra express discontent, claiming oversight despite their seniority in Solan and Bilaspur districts.
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NEW DELHI: A controversy has arisen over the appointment of two judges by the collegium in the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The case has now reached the Supreme Court, as two district judges from the state have come forward to challenge the decision made by the High Court.
District Judges Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra, who serve in Solan and Bilaspur respectively, have lodged a complaint with the Supreme Court, expressing their disappointment at not being appointed as High Court judges. They argue that despite being the senior-most district judges in the state, the High Court collegium chose to recruit junior individuals instead.
Both judges have alleged that the appointment process did not adhere to the rules and guidelines set forth by the Supreme Court. They claim that their names were initially put forward to the Himachal Pradesh High Court by the Supreme Court Collegium, which is headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
Furthermore, both judges have informed the Supreme Court that their names were recommended by the law ministry of the country following the collegium’s decision. The Law Ministry had written a letter to the Himachal Pradesh High Court Collegium, urging them to consider the names of Malhotra and Singh.
Adding to their argument, the judges have revealed that their names were recommended by the Supreme Court not once, but twice. The first recommendation was made in July 2023, followed by another in January 2024. However, despite these recommendations, the Himachal Pradesh High Court failed to promote them, leading the judges to believe that their names were deliberately overlooked.
In their petition to the Supreme Court, Malhotra and Singh have claimed that the Himachal Pradesh High Court replaced them with two junior individuals who are ineligible for the position. They argue that their own track records have been excellent, and yet their merit and seniority were disregarded by the High Court, which they accuse of ignoring the principles of meritocracy.
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Seeking justice, the judges have requested the Supreme Court to halt the appointments made by the Himachal Pradesh High Court and find a solution to their problem. Speculation is now rife regarding the possible intervention of CJI DY Chandrachud in this matter, as questions arise regarding the selection process of judges by the Himachal Pradesh HC collegium.
This case sheds light on a larger issue within the judicial system, as it reflects a recurring grievance that HC collegiums often do not strictly adhere to the process established by the Supreme Court for the selection of judicial officers and lawyers as HC judges. Chirag Bhanu Singh and Arvind Malhotra, the district judges of Bilaspur and Solan respectively, have filed a joint writ petition, highlighting this concern.
In their petition, the judges have urged the HC collegium to reconsider their names in accordance with the resolution passed by the SC collegium on January 4. They have pointed out that the SC collegium had advised the HC collegium to reconsider their names, and this recommendation was followed by a letter from the Union law minister to the HC chief justice, requesting a reevaluation of Singh and Malhotra’s candidacies.
Singh and Malhotra have expressed their disappointment at the fact that the HC collegium ignored the advice of the SC collegium and the letter from the law minister. Instead of reconsidering their names, the HC collegium began considering the judgments of much junior judicial officers, thereby bypassing their merit, seniority, and unblemished judicial track record.
The district judges argue that their valuable constitutional rights, specifically their right to be considered, are being violated in this case. They were initially recommended by the HC collegium for appointment as judges of the Himachal Pradesh HC, and their names were presented to the SC collegium on July 12 of the previous year. However, the decision was deferred, and on January 4, the CJI-led collegium sent their names back to the HC collegium for reconsideration.
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Singh and Malhotra claim that the HC collegium deliberately excluded their names during the recent recommendation, disregarding their seniority and merit while proposing the names of two ineligible junior officers to the SC collegium for appointment as HC judges.
“The procedure followed by the HC collegium is flawed both procedurally and substantively, deviating from established constitutional norms. Consequently, the actions of the HC chief justice and the collegium could be invalidated.”
-they asserted in their petition.