Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi attacked the collegium system during his arguments in the Supreme Court yesterday defending the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), using the example of allegations of bias and nepotism in 2013 judicial appointments, reported the Indian Express.
He cited former Gujarat high court chief justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya’s letter to the president that had alleged that the then-chief justice of India (CJI) Altamas Kabir had impeded his elevation to the Supreme Court because he had earlier, as part of the collegium, opposed the elevation of Kabir’s sister to the Calcutta high court.
“I dare say this but there are several examples like this. And what was the weightage given to the letter written by a fellow judge? How was that not important to collegium?” Rohatgi told the Constitution Bench led by Justice JS Khehar, as reported by /Express/.
Kabir’s sister Shukla Kabir Sinha was appointed as a Calcutta high court judge in 2010 by a collegium in which Kabir had recused himself from the decision, while Bhattacharya, who was also a part of the collegium, had objected to her elevation.
Comments
The elevation of Altamas Kabir's sister was a slap on the face of every principle of administrative law and propriety. Personally I can think of a dozen different ways he could have handled it such that it appeared less improper (ask a brother judge to elevate her after his retirement maybe). In the end it was done in a ham handed manner and Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya's letter is telling of the opaque way these appointments are made.
Btw this is not the first time such allegations have been made against Kabir. I recall years ago that Altamas Kabir's son Deep Kabir was appointed some sort of public prosecutor in the Andaman administration. While it did not get much media attention it is a puzzle how a kid with barely 1-2 years of PQE and pretty much no experience in criminal litigation managed such an appointment. I mean how would it appear if an A1 from CAM was appointed Assistant Government Pleader.
Question is whether there's a duty on me to reject some of these gigs, but not sure it can be automatically assumed that my dad is to blame.
Question is whether there's a duty on me to reject some of these gigs, but not sure it can be automatically assumed that my dad is to blame.[/quote]
I dunno if my answer will satisfy your question but here goes.
I became a lawyer 6 years ago. Never have I heard of any PP post being awarded to someone with less than 10 years standing at the bar. And that's just a minimum. In some states only lawyers on the tip of becoming Seniors are appointed.
In Deep Kabir's case he went abroad for higher studies shortly after graduation in 2007 so he would barely have been in India for 3 years when he was appointed as SPP in Andamans. The link to the story
[url] http://web.archive.org/web/20121002001416/http://andamanchronicle.com/content/view/4444/27/[/url]
I have never heard of anyone from any law school get such a position in this manner. Why there has been no investigation defies understanding. There seems to be no sense of propriety whatsoever when it comes to Kabir and his family.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Justice Bhattacharya's letter, appointment of sister, son getting favours, the mysterious leak of the medical entrance order, his interference in the Sahara proceedings, the list of dodgy stuff featuring Altamas Kabir is long. How come we never hear of such things involving Justice S H Kapadia? Dont forget also that when the disgusting case of A K Ganguly reared its head, Kabir was one of the first to spring to his defence with his 'character certificate'. It's a shame that someone with such questionable credentials has parked himself at NUJS Kolkata and is responsible for teaching aspiring lawyers.
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.in/2013/11/altamas-kabir-worst-chief-justice-of.html
A great example of arrogance of judiciary in general and this man in particular.