The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a petition filed by a Himachal Pradesh family court judge seeking reconsideration of his elevation by the high court collegium.
A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi said that allowing the officer to withdraw and pursue his remedies before the Himachal Pradesh high court would open a Pandora's Box.
The judge, Arvind Malhotra, agreed to withdraw his plea to avail the remedy of approaching the high court after the bench observed that merely being senior does not make one entitled for elevation.
The high court collegium had recommended three names of judicial officers junior to Malhotra, and the Supreme Court collegium had endorsed the recommendations jeopardising Malhotra's case for elevation.
The bench said that the high court collegium's proceedings are secretive, and the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation is a supervening circumstance.
Senior advocate Balbir Singh appearing for Malhotra pointed out that this is not the first time he has approached the top court seeking denial of consideration for elevation.
The court said that no cause of action arises as of now and that Malhotra needs to have patience in these matters.
