NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has pulled up the Centre for dragging its feet on the appointment of high court judges, accusing the government of trying to shut down the judiciary.
So far, the Centre has cleared only 18 of 77 names recommended by the Collegium for posts of high court judges.
With the apex court threatening to summon PMO secretary over this delay, the Centre sought time to clear more names by November 11.
"So, do you want to lock out the judiciary?" the SC bench asked the advocate general, pointing out that at present, the state high courts are functioning with less than 60 per cent of their actual strength. The institution of judiciary can not be allowed to be decimated like this, the bench noted.
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