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New Delhi: On 1 September, the Supreme Court Collegium reiterated the names of four advocates for promotion as judges of the Calcutta High Court but one lawyer, Sakya Sen, was dropped from the list.
Sen, son of former Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Shyamal Sen, has been recommended by the court for promotion twice in the past. The first time was in 2016 when he was just 43 years old.
However, sources told ThePrint, he was among the 16 advocates on whom the collegium deferred its decision.
The high-powered appointments panel led by Chief Justice NV Ramana had on August 24 reiterated the elevation of three judicial officers as judges of the Allahabad HC, overcoming the objections of the central government. Once the collegium reiterates its decision, it is considered binding on the government.
Later, on September 1, the collegium, which also included Justices UU Lalit and AM Khanwilkar, reiterated the names of nine lawyers for promotion to different HCs.
Four of the nine were from Calcutta and included Amitesh Banerjee, son of former Supreme Court judge Justice UC Banerjee.
Justice Banerjee had led The inquiry panel set up by the UPA government in 2004 to avoid any wrongdoing in the 2002 Godhra fire in the Sabarmati Express. The panel’s report said the fire was accidental.
The other three advocates were Jaytosh Majumdar, Raja Basu Choudhary and Lipita Banerjee.
Read also: Justice Akil Qureshi, ignored as SC judge, likely to head Rajasthan HC as Chief Justice
Both Calcutta HC and SC collegiums approved Sen’s name twice
Sen’s name along with five others was first sent to the SC collegium in November 2016. The collegium, headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, considered the names after more than a year in December 2017.
After the Intelligence Bureau confirmed that all the candidates had a “good personal and professional image” and nothing adverse was found against them, the collegium proposed the names of five advocates, including Sen, for promotion.
At the time, Sen was 43 years old, which was two years less than the minimum age requirement of 45 for promotion as a judge. Though the Calcutta HC Collegium recommended his name to the SC, the panel asked for relaxation of the age criteria for Sen in view of his “capacity” and “shortage of judges” in the HC.
But his file was sent back by the central government as he was not yet 45 years old.
After more than a year, on 8 August 2018, the SC collegium reconsidered Sen’s name, but sent it back to the HC collegium.
On 17 December 2018, the HC collegium reiterated its decision on Sen and his name was picked up once again by the SC in July 2019, under the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi, who was also part of the earlier collegium, who promoted Sen. was approved for.
From the list of nine names sent by the Calcutta HC, the apex court panel cleared five, including Sen. This time the recommendations were made after talks between the collegium members and the candidates.
Based on the talks, the SC found Sen suitable for appointment as a judge in the Calcutta HC.
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