New Delhi, December 9
After dithering for weeks, the government has finally accepted the recommendations of the Supreme Court Collegium for the elevation of three judges to the apex court, ending the rift on the issue that was threatening to snowball into a showdown.

Official sources said the file was being forwarded to Rashtrapati Bhavan to enable the President to elevate Chief Justices A.K. Ganguly (Madras High Court), H.L. Dattu (Kerala) and R.M. Lodha (Patna) to the Supreme Court.

Their appointments were now a mere formality and would be announced in a couple of days, the sources said. The government had referred back to the collegium its recommendations for the elevation of these three judges, ignoring the seniority of Chief Justices A.P. Shah (Delhi HC), A.K. Patnaik (Madhya Pradesh) and V.K. Gupta (Uttarakhand).

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had also expressed its reservations over the collegium’s views that had not taken into account the need for regional representation.

The collegium, headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, however, stuck to its stand, refusing to reconsider its recommendations and sent back the file to the government.