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NEW DELHI: On the heels of a senior Supreme Court judge’s proposal to pause for some years the selection of sitting or former judges’ lawyer children for appointment as high court judges, another senior SC collegium member has proposed that such candidates must meet a higher benchmark to be in the zone of consideration.
After the first proposal received traction among lawyers, who had a long grievance that first-generation lawyers generally get ignored when bracketed in zone of consideration for HC judgeship with kith and kin of sitting or former constitutional court judges, another member of the collegium was of the view that it would be discriminatory to completely bar such candidates’ selection when judicial appointments are based only on merit and suitability.
He also felt that it could deprive the constitutional courts of the talent it needs to deal with litigation, which is getting complex with the passage of time. However, the SC judge agreed with the objective of the initial proposal of another judge given the resentment among lawyers. He also emphasised that many such selections were deserving cases, sources said.
Judge kin spared grind first-gen lawyers often go through
He proposed a higher threshold in the selection criteria for such candidates keeping in view the facilities and experience they can get without the grind first-generation lawyers go through in the acutely competitive legal profession.
Interestingly, the lawyers’ grievance was reflected during the ‘full court reference’ on Wednesday to pay homage to three former SC judges – Justices Kuldip Singh, M Jagannadha Rao and H S Bedi – who passed away. All three judges’ sons became HC judges, one of whom resigned within six months of his appointment to return to legal practice in SC. In one case, the deceased SC judge’s father was also a judge.
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