Of the five names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment as Supreme Court Judges, four are Chief Justices, while one of them, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer, is a puisne judge.
Perhaps the reason for selecting Justice Nazeer is that he is a Muslim, and there is no Muslim judge presently in the Supreme Court.
But Justice Nazeer was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court in 2003, while Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed was appointed as a Delhi High Court Judge in 2002, and is senior to Justice Abdul Nazeer. Justice Badar Ahmed was born in 1956, while Justice Nazeer was born in 1958. Thus, Justice Badar Ahmed is also senior in age.
Justice Badar Ahmed is the seniormost Judge of the Delhi High Court after the Chief Justice of that Court. I was his Chief Justice in 2005-2006, and know him to be an outstanding Judge. If a Muslim was to be chosen for the Supreme Court it should have been the senior of the two.
I was also surprised that Justice K.M. Joseph, presently Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court was not recommended, although he has been an outstanding judge. There is a controversy over this non recommendation
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