New Delhi, July 1
Chief Justice of India RM Lodha today slammed the Narendra Modi government for delinking, without his consent, the Supreme Court collegium’s recommendation for the appointment of senior advocate Gopal Subramanium as a judge of the SC along with three others.

“The segregation of Gopal Subramanium’s name was done unilaterally by the Executive without my knowledge and concurrence which was not proper,” CJI Lodha said while addressing a function organised by the SC Bar Association to bid farewell to Justice BS Chauhan who retired as a judge of the SC today.

Taking strong exception to the “casual manner” in which the government had handled the files relating to appointments to high constitutional posts, the CJI said he failed to understand the attitude of the government.

He made it clear that the independence of the Judiciary “is one subject which is non-negotiable. At no cost the independence of the judiciary will be allowed to be compromised.”

Following reports that the government was reluctant to appoint him as an apex court judge, Subramanium, who has been Solicitor General, had written a letter to the CJI on June 25, stating that he was withdrawing his consent to be considered for elevation.

The SC collegium, comprising five senior-most judges headed by the CJI, had recommended the names of former SG Rohinton Nariman and high court Chief Justices Arun Mishra (Calcutta) and Adarsh Kumar Goyal (Odisha), besides that of Subramanium. But the government approved the proposals relating to only the other three and returned the case of Subramanium to the collegium for its reconsideration. The CJI said he saw the file sent back by the government on his return from abroad on June 28 and summoned Subramanium and had a 75-minute talk. He said he advised the senior advocate to withdraw the June 25 letter so that the collegium could force the government on the issue. Subramanium sought a day’s time and the next day conveyed his decision to stick to his stand.

“I discussed the issue with the members of the collegiums and two future CJIs and felt there was no point in pursing the matter further” in view of Subramanium’s stand, the CJI said.

The CJI made the clarification on the independence of the Judiciary in response to Subramanium’s view that the collegium had let him down by allowing the government to segregate his name. “I have a sense of unease that the Judiciary has failed to assert its independence by respecting the likes and dislikes” of the government, Subramanium had said.

Subramanium also strongly refuted the allegations levelled against him through “carefully planted leaks” raising doubts about his professional integrity in handling the 2G scam case when he was SG and other cases, including the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheik in a fake encounter with Gujarat police in 2005, as a law officer.

“Over the past two weeks some media reports have voiced the Centre’s reservations about my appointment. These reports speak of alleged adverse reports against me by the IB and the CBI,” he noted.