P&H High Court Rejects PIL Against Haryana AG's Judicial Appointment

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition that challenged the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation to appoint Senior Advocate Pravindra Singh Chauhan as a High Court judge [Pradeep Singh v Union of India and Others].Chauhan is currently the Advocate General of Haryana. His name was recommended for appointment as a High Court judge in May along with names of nine other advocates. The Central government has not yet approved any of the names.A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor on August 10 dismissed a plea seeking the recall of the Collegium recommendation pertaining to Chauhan.The Bench said that the process of appointing judges is exhaustive, and that recommendations for the same are not ordinarily open to question. It added that appointments to a high constitutional office cannot be questioned or examined at the mere asking of a petitioner.Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit KapoorThe Court noted that the process of appointing a High Court judge is initiated by the High Court Collegium, and the proposal is then sent to the State government, which receives inputs from various intelligence agencies."Thereafter, recommendation is made by the State Government in the matter. The proposal is then taken to the Ministry of Law and Justice, where once again, intelligence inputs are collected and with the appropriate reports etc., obtained from all relevant quarters