NEW DELHI: The Union government is learnt to have accepted the Supreme Court collegium’s decision to elevate Uttarakhand HC Chief Justice K M Joseph to the apex court, thus removing a major friction point between the executive and the judiciary, and an issue that had created bad blood within the top judiciary for the last six months.

Sources in the government said the authorities had cleared the files relating to the appointment of Justice Joseph along with the recommendation for appointment of Madras HC Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Orissa HC Chief Justice Vineet Saran as SC judges.

Justice Joseph's name was recommended for appointment as an SC judge by the collegium headed by Justice Dipak Misra on January 10, which was followed two days later by an unprecedented rebellion within the top judiciary.

On January 12, the four other members of the collegium — Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph — addressed a press conference to criticise the CJI’s manner of working .

The Centre had on April 30 returned the recommendation for reconsideration by the collegium and registered its objection to Justice Joseph’s name on the ground of his lack of seniority. The Centre had objected to Justice Joseph's elevation, saying his name figured at 42 in the all-India seniority list of judges and that such an elevation would supersede many and demolish legitimate expectations of HC judges for appointment to the SC. It had also said there was no adequate representation of SC/ST community in the higher judiciary.

The Centre's objection to Justice Joseph's name was speculated to be because of the Uttarakhand CJ striking down imposition of President's rule in the state by the BJP-led NDA government in 2016 after dismissing a Congress government led by Harish Rawat . Eventually, the Rawat government was reinstated after the SC intervened to hold a floor test.

However, the collegium on May 16 in principle reiterated the decision to recommend Justice Joseph's name but did not send it to the government. It wanted to select more candidates for appointment to the SC given that there were six vacancies at that time.

Sources said there was nothing amiss in sending back Justice Joseph’s name, its reiteration and subsequent acceptance by the government, as all three components were part of the process laid down by the SC in its two judgments which, in the 1990s, created the collegium system for selection of judges of constitutional courts.

They also said the government sought recommendation on the ground that seniority as a criterion should be factored in for appointment of apex court judges and that the claims of chief justices of other HCs who were senior to Justice Joseph should not be overlooked.

The need to ensure representation of all regions was another consideration the collegium was requested to revisit. Sources said the Uttarakhand CJ hailed from Kerala which was already represented in the SC by Justice Kurian Joseph.

“By recommending the elevation of Justice Banerjee and Justice Saran along with Justice Joseph, the court appears to have appreciated our viewpoint and we appreciate the collegium’s choice,” said a senior government functionary.

Sources also said the government was keen on higher representation for OBCs and Scheduled Castes in the top court.

