After Dinakaran, another chief justice hits promotion roadblock

NEW DELHI: Days before putting the recommendation for elevation of Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran to SC in cold storage, President Pratibha Patil has asked the government to seek clarifications from the collegium on certain complaints against Allahabad High Court CJ Chandramouli Kumar Prasad who also was recommended for appointment as a judge of the SC.
The name of Justice Prasad was sent by the Collegium last month to the government along with Justice Swatanter Kumar, then Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, recommending their appointment as judges of the SC.
Though Justice Kumar’s name was cleared and he was sworn-in as a judge of the apex court on Friday, the name of Justice Prasad ran into trouble as a few complaints were received by the President during the processing of the Collegium’s recommendation.
With the President seeking clarification on the complaints, the Collegium has now to verify the allegations and then send a communication to the government either clearing Justice Prasad’s name or stalling it. One of the questions asked by the President related to the alleged superseding of Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra, present Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court and the first woman to hold the post in the state. It was alleged that though Justice Mishra and Justice Prasad belonged to Bihar and despite she being senior to Justice Prasad, the latter had been recommended to be appointed as a judge of the SC.
Interestingly, the Supreme Court till date has had only three women judges — Justices Fatima Beevi, Sujata Manohar and Ruma Pal. Though Justice Pal was the last one and retired more than three years ago, there had been no woman judge in the SC and pressure had been building on the Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan to choose a woman for appointment as a SC judge.
The manner in which complaints against Justice Dinakaran and Justice Prasad arose appear to be identical. When they were functioning as judges of the HCs and even when they were appointed as Chief Justices, there were no complaints against them. However, the allegations started pouring in the moment the Collegium recommended their names to the government for elevation to SC.