Decision on elevation of Akil Kureshi as Madhya Pradesh HC Chief Justice within a week, Centre tell Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that it would take a call within a week on the collegium’s 10 May recommendation to elevate Justice Akil Kureshi as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde and S Abdul Nazeer was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the Centre would take a call within a week on the top court collegium’s recommendation. “I have instruction that within a week some decisions will be taken in this regard,” Mehta said and requested the court that the matter be taken up after a week as the Centre was going through the files sent by the collegium on the judge concerned. [caption id=“attachment_6075511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Supreme Court of India. PTI[/caption] The bench adjourned the hearing on the matter and indicated that the next date for hearing will be fixed on the administrative side. On 2 August, the top court had asked the Centre to take a decision in the matter by 14 August after Mehta had informed the bench that the collegium proposal was under consideration. The top court was hearing a petition filed by the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) seeking direction to the Centre to notify the elevation of Kureshi. The lawyers’ body alleged that the Centre has cleared the appointment of chief justices of other high courts. The plea had said that Kureshi name has not been notified by the Centre even after the collegium has recommended his name on 10 May. The Centre, however, did not clear the file for appointment of Kureshi and on 7 June came out with a notification appointing Justice Ravi Shanker Jha as acting chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, it said. The collegium’s resolution had stated: “Justice AA Kureshi is the senior-most judge from the Gujarat High Court, and at present is functioning, on transfer, in the Bombay High Court. “Having regard to all relevant factors, the collegium is of the considered view that Justice AA Kureshi is suitable in all respects for being appointed as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The collegium resolves to recommend accordingly.” The GHCAA has sought a direction to the Centre to implement the collegium’s resolution. The petition highlighted that 18 other additional judges of different high courts have been appointed after 10 May. The association contended that the reluctance of the Centre to appoint Kureshi as chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh HC is against the procedure laid down in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) and amounts to a violation of Articles 14 and 217 of the Constitution. The lawyers’ body said the inaction on the part of the Centre is an attack on the independence of the judiciary and diminishes the primacy of the judiciary in the matters of appointment and transfer of judges to the high courts and the Supreme Court. GHCAA president Yatin Oza had reportedly said that Kureshi was being singled out for an order passed by him in 2010, remanding current Union home minister Amit Shah in police custody.