KCR rejects file on appointment of HC judges

HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is understood to have opposed the recommendation for appointment of six persons as judges to the High Court of Hyderabad.

Informed sources confirmed that the Chief Minister gave his views on the file a week ago and the same would have been forwarded to the Union Minister for Law by now, for further action.

The Telangana Chief Minister did not merely reject the names forwarded by the Chief Justice of the HC, he also gave his reasons for doing so. A noting was made against each name and why, according to him, they were unsuitable for appointment as HC judge. KCR, it is learnt, is reported to have commented that it is important to select 'men of integrity' for such positions.

Of the six recommended for judgeship of the Hyderabad High Court, which currently has jurisdiction over the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, three hail from Telangana, two from Coastal Andhra and another from Rayalaseema.

The entire process began some months ago when the state was under the Governor's Rule, before it was officially bifurcated into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in the first week of June.

When the file was first sent by the High Court Chief Justice to the Governor, the latter is understood to have forwarded the names to the Centre without any comments.

Soon, there was a change of guard in Delhi and the Union Ministry of Law took the view that since elected governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are in place, the views of the respective Chief Ministers should be sought as per convention.

That was when the file was returned to the state and KCR put forth his views. It is, however, not known whether Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has offered his comments and if so, what they are.

According to the procedure laid down for appointment of High Court judges, the Union Minister of Law would now consider the recommendations (views of Chief Ministers included) in the light of such other reports as may be available to the government in respect of names under consideration.

The complete material would then be forwarded to the Chief Justice of India, who would, in consultation with senior judges, who are part of the collegium, form an opinion. The Chief Justice of India would then write to the Union Minister of Law, who is expected to forward the recommendations to the President through the Prime Minister.

In the current scheme of things, the views of the executive authorities are not binding and it is the Supreme Court collegium that takes the final call.

The procedure, however, stated that 'the correspondence between the Chief Justice and Chief Minister and between the Chief Minister and Governor, if any, should be in writing and copies of the same should invariably be forwarded along with the Chief Minister's recommendations.'

The SC collegium usually takes any one of the three steps: a) accept the recommendation from HC; b) return the file (implying the name(s) could be considered later); and c) reject the recommendation.