Delhi HC Rejects Plea Seeking ‘Transparency’ in Supreme Court Collegium

The Delhi High Court has dismissed with costs of Rs 25,000 a petition seeking detailed reasons from the Supreme Court collegium when rejecting recommendations for high court judges’ appointments.

Rakesh Kumar Gupta, the petitioner, also sought directions for the collegium to disclose the qualifications considered for such appointments and to publish monthly data on pending and disposed recommendations.

‘Complete Waste of Judicial Time’

Justice Subramonium Prasad stated that the court cannot scrutinize the subjective satisfaction of the Supreme Court’s collegium and deemed the petition a “complete waste of judicial time”.

The court ordered, “This court is inclined to dismiss the writ petition imposing costs of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner to be deposited with the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund within a period of four weeks from today. The writ petition is dismissed along with pending application(s), if any.”

Petitioner’s Argument

Gupta, who alleged being affected by a delay in his case pending in the Rohini district court, highlighted the high rejection rate of collegium recommendations as “extremely disturbing”, suggesting a communication gap between the apex court and the high courts on appointment criteria. He pointed out that the rejection rate was about 35.29 per cent in 2023 compared to 4.38 per cent in 2021.

The court rebuffed Gupta’s claims, stating he lacked locus and failed to justify how he was affected, dismissing his plea as merely a publicity interest litigation. It noted that the Supreme Court collegium’s decision outcomes were publicly available on the court’s website and the qualifications for high court judges were defined under Article 217 of the Constitution.

“The Collegium of the Hon’ble Apex Court evaluates numerous factors before accepting high court collegium recommendations. This court cannot review the subjective satisfaction of the Collegium of the Hon’ble apex court,” the court concluded.

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