As is his wont, activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan had moved the Supreme Court once again with a PIL on an issue that should have been none of his business: Appointment of high court judges
New Delhi: The Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Friday snubbed senior activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan after the latter, appearing for an NGO, said that the Central government is sitting on the files pertaining to the appointment of high court judges.
Gogoi’s remarks came just a day after he hinted to Bhushan that his review petition on the Rafale matter would not see a hearing any time soon.
“As CJI, I am telling you (Bhushan) that the appointments of judges are getting done much faster than before,” said Gogoi to Bhushan.
Also read: Setback to Prashant Bhushan in SC as CJI says Rafale review petition hearing will take time
Gogoi said that, out of the 70 to 80 proposals sent to the Centre, only 27 recommendations for appointment of high court judges are pending. He also added that it is the Supreme Court which is unable to pass the proposals related to the appointment of judges.
An NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation filed the petition for the speedy appointment of lawyers and judges for various high courts.
On February 21, the CJI told Bhushan that the review petition on Rafale deal which he filed on January 2 needed the constitution of the same bench that had heard the matter before and this would take time.
Bhushan along with former Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha had contended that the court had not delved into the disputed facts of the case.
They had also alleged that the Centre had presented wrong facts to the top court and that there had been no CAG report on the deal since it had been inked.
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