It has been alleged that relatives of former judges and employees were given preference in appointments to judicial institutions and courts in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Answer has been sought on this.
The Supreme Court has sought response from the Registrar General of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on a plea alleging favoritism in appointments to courts.
In fact, it is alleged that relatives of former judges and employees were given preference in appointments to judicial institutions and courts in the union territory.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud initially advised the counsel for petitioner NGO ‘Jammu and Kashmir People’s Forum’ that they should file their petition in the High Court.
However, Chief Justice Chandrachud, after deliberating with Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala, decided to hear the petition in the Supreme Court itself and asked the High Court’s counsel to respond within four weeks.
On the request of the counsel appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, the time for filing the counter affidavit is further extended by four weeks, the Supreme Court said in its order.
The rejoinder affidavit will be filed by the Registrar General of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court specifically after taking instructions from the Chief Justice of the High Court.
The bench fixed April 28 for the next hearing on the petition.
Now Justice N. Kotishwar Singh is the Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. He took oath of this post on February 15 this year. The apex court had agreed to hear the petition filed by the NGO on September 2 last year. The court had then issued notice and sought the J&K High Court’s response on its administrative side.
