All is not well between Assam’s son of the soil and Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and his ‘right hand man’.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur, whom Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi once described as his ‘right hand man, was on Wednesday visibly dissapointed over the CJI not notifying the December 12 decision of the collegium recommending two HC judges as judges of the apex court and uploading it on the website, according to reports.
Justice Lokur, who retired on December 30 last year was part of a five-member collegium which was learned to have approved the names of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Rajendra Menon for elevation to the top court of the country but the names were not sent to the Centre.
After his retirement, the composition of the collegium changed and names of Karnataka High Court chief justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Delhi High Court judge Sanjiv Khanna were recommended on January 10 for elevation while the earlier decision remained in limbo.
Speaking on the controversy at a function, Justice Lokur said he was not ‘privy’ to what happened between December 12 and January 10, and he was also not informed about any additional information emerging pertaining to the two judges whose names had earlier been cleared by the collegium.
“There is no standard operating procedure but once a resolution is passed, it should be put on the website. It does disappoint me. I am disappointed as it was not uploaded,” he said. Responding to a question on whether he sought any explanation from the CJI, Justice Lokur said, “It is not my job. It is not my business.”
He also opposed a suggestion that the additional material pertaining to the two judges be put in public domain by the CJI to justify the controversial decision.