allo! eggs-sqeeze-me...: Appointment of Judges to High Courts and Caste

Appointment of Judges to High Courts and Caste

It is an anachronism that the principles enunciated by the Courts do not imbue their own administration. It is time the veil that insulates them from the Constitutional ideals and practices is pierced and all their administrative acts ranging from appointment of staff to the selection of Judges is made transparent and amenable to the equality clause of the Constitution.

In a dare devil act, Mr. Prabhunath Vasireddy, a practicing advocate of Andhra Pradesh High Court, through a public interest litigation, drew attention to caste considerations influencing selection of Advocates for Judges posts by the Chief Justice, rather than merit and suitability. Mr. Prabhunath, as party-in-person, in Writ Petition S.R.No. 116786 of 2009, questions selection of four Advocates; two Brahmins, a Reddy and a Velama, for appointment as Judges of the High Court on the ground of violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.

The allegations in the petition are serious. It reads that of the two Brahmins proposed, one is the son of former Advocate General and the second is son of a retired Judge of the Supreme Court. The first one was admonished by the Bar Council for professional misconduct and the latter has married thrice after divorcing twice and getting a criminal case for harassment for dowry compounded. The thirty judge -High Court already has six Brahmins. The third person recommended for appointment is a Reddy. There are already seven from the caste sitting on the Bench. The fourth person, a velama, is selected solely owing to his affinity to the congressman Mr. K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao. The Chief Justice should have sent recommendations for all the vacant posts, the petition demands.

The petition came up before a Bench consisting of Justices Raghuram and Ramesh Ranganathan. It was opposed by the Advocate General appearing for the State and Mrs. Bhaskara Lakshmi, Advocate for the High Court. Lending credence to the allegation of certain castes dominating the Courts, all the four are Brahmins !