The apex court collegium's file recommending the elevation of Malhotra reached the Law Ministry on January 22.

Senior advocate Indu Malhotra is set to become Supreme Court judge as the Centre has cleared her appointment, Law Ministry sources said on Wednesday. However, with this appointment, it seems that the government has decided to put on hold the elevation of Justice KM Joseph, who heads the Uttarakhand High Court.

Malhotra will be the first woman judge to be appointed to the top post directly from the bar.

The apex court collegium's file recommending the elevation of Justice Joseph and Malhotra reached the Law Ministry on January 22.

As per PTI report, after processing the file in the first week of February, the recommendations were kept in abeyance as the government wanted to elevate only Malhotra.

Meanwhile, the government is of the view that while recommending the name of Justice Joseph, the collegium has disregarded seniority and regional representation as he is 42nd in the seniority list of 669 high court judges.

As per sources, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will be writing to CJI Dipak Misra about its decision to appoint only Malhotra.

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