Appointment of judges: SC refuses to accept Centre's stand of rejecting 43 recommended names

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that it has not accepted the Centre’s stand of rejecting the 43 names recommended by the apex court Collegium for their appointment as judges of the various high courts and these have been sent back for reconsideration. “We have reiterated 43 names for the appointment of judges of high courts which were rejected by the government and have been sent back for reconsideration,” a bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and AR Dave said. [caption id=“attachment_3106396” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The apex court stated this after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi reminded the bench about the statement made by him during the last hearing on Tuesday. The CJI who heads the five-member Collegium of judges told him that “we have seen”. The AG expressed his ignorance about the latest development saying “I am not aware of it”. The Centre on Tuesday told the court that it has cleared 34 names out of the 77 recommended by the collegium for appointment as judges in various high courts in the country. The government had also apprised the apex court that no file with regard to the recommendations for appointment of judges was pending with it. “Out of total 77 names, 34 names have been cleared for the appointment and rest 43 recommendations have been sent back to the apex court collegium for reconsideration,” AG, appearing for the Centre, had told the bench. The bench posted the matter for further hearing after the winter vacation.