Greeva Garg –
Published on: August 13, 2021 at 15:02 IST
Advocate General of Kerala, Gopalakrishna Kurup despised Central Government for delay in appointing High Court Judges already recommended by the Collegium.
As a matter of concern, Advocate General Kurup stated that, no single appointment has been made to the Apex Court for almost two years with vacancies increasing to nine as of now.
Advocate General Kurup observed that there are many High Court vacancies all over the country on account of delay by the Executive not processing Collegium recommendations within a reasonable and definite time frame.
Speaking of the delay, Kurup pointed the appointment of two new Judges in Kerala High Court, Justice Viju Abraham and Justice Mohammed Nias Chovvakkaran Puthiyapurayil, as the appointments happened more than two years after the Collegium recommended their names.
Additionally, Kurup referred to a similar delay by the Government in clearing a Judge, Justice KM Joseph of the Kerala High Court for appointment to the Supreme Court.
Kurup also spoke highly of the fact that the elevation of a Judge from the Bar is also a recognition of the Bar’s heightened professional standards, legal acumen and integrity.
“The Indian Judiciary has consistently been the vanguard of the rule of law imbibed in the basic structure of our constitution. It has always been the last resort of a citizen from authoritarian excesses,” Kurup opined.
Coupled with this is the recent popular perception that the executive is trying to assert itself and impose itself on the judiciary, Karup said, “In such a situation, the judiciary needs to be steered by judges of a constitutional conviction who are capable to dispensing justice unmindful of public perception and who are obligated only to safeguard judicial independence. Fortunately, our judiciary is blessed with a vast majority of judges of like nature. The two judges sworn in today are also definitely of that genre,” Kurup added.