Govt clears Akil Kureshi’s elevation as Tripura high court’s chief justice.

Source – hindustantimes.com

The law ministry has cleared the name of Justice Akil Kureshi of the Bombay High Court for elevation as the chief justice of the Tripura High Court, ending months of stand-off, a senior government official said on Thursday.

The file is now pending before President Ram Nath Kovind for signing the warrant of appointment, the official said.

The Supreme Court collegium had earlier recommended him to head the Madhya Pradesh High Court. But following reservations expressed by the government, the collegium had modified its recommendation and proposed his name as head of the Tripura High Court.

Appointment of Justice Kureshi as chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court was recommended by the Collegium on May 10 this year.

The modified recommendation to send Justice Kureshi to the Tripura High Court was later uploaded on the apex court’s website and it said that the decision was taken in the collegium’s meeting on September 5.

The Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (GHCAA) had moved the top court a few months ago, alleging that the Centre was delaying the appointment of Justice Kureshi.

GHCAA plea claimed that the Centre did not clear the file for appointment of Justice Kureshi, and on June 7 came out with a notification appointing Justice Ravi Shanker Jha as acting chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

The association has contended that the reluctance of the Centre to appoint Justice Kureshi as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court is against the procedure laid down in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) and amounts to a violation of Articles 14 and 217 of the Constitution.

The Centre on Monday informed the Supreme Court that “administrative formalities” are required to be completed to implement the decision of the apex court collegium on elevation of Bombay High Court judge Justice Akil Kureshi as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.