: The State government on Tuesday informed the Kerala High Court that it had decided not to accept the names of two lawyers recommended by the selection committee headed by Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan for appointment as judicial members to the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT).
In an affidavit, the government said the selection committee had recommended the names of two lawyers — Benny Gervacis and V. Rajendran — for appointment as judicial members to the KAT.
The recommendation was placed before the Council of Minister on August 25, 2015 in accordance with the procedure stipulated under the Administrative Tribunals (Procedure for Appointment of Members) Rules, 2011. The Cabinet then decided not to recommend the names of the lawyers selected.
The affidavit also said that as per the rules, the State government had the power to prepare a list of persons from among the persons recommended by the selection committee and forward it to the Union government.
Selection panel
The duty of the Selection Committee was only to recommend such persons who were qualified to be appointed as members. It was not the selection committee that was preparing the list.
The petitioner’s contention that the State government was bound by the recommendations of the selection committee and such recommendations should be placed before the governor was not correct. If the government did not make a list of candidates from the list given by the selection committee, the recommendations of the selection committee need not be placed before the Governor for his views.
The government had already communicated its decision not to accept the names of two lawyers to the Chairman of the Selection Committee who is the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court as well as the Chairman of the KAT.
The affidavit said the State had the power to prepare a list of persons from among the persons recommended by the selection committee.
