Lawyers withdraw nod for elevation over delay

AT LEAST 27 ADVOCATES STILL AWAIT ACTION FROM CENTRE DESPITE BEING RECOMMENDED BY THE COLLEGIUM

- Ayesha Arvind and Shruti Kakkar

Even as the Union government continues to delay decisions on names recommended by the Supreme Court collegium for high court appointments, two advocates, Rajesh Sudhakar Datar and Shwetasree Majumdar, have withdrawn their consent for elevation, citing silence and inaction that have left several others in similar limbo.

Their decisions mark a growing sense of frustration in the legal community over a lack of transparency and arbitrary delays in judicial appointments, as at least 27 other advocates, including four women, still await action from the Centre despite being recommended by the collegium between January 2023 and April 2025.

Advocate Datar, a senior civil and commercial litigation lawyer in Mumbai, was recommended for elevation to the Bombay high court on September 24, 2024, alongside three other names. While the Centre cleared the names of Gautam Ankhad and Mahendra Nerlikar, who took oath on July 4, and notified Sachin Deshmukh’s appointment in May, Datar’s file remained untouched for over nine months.

“The consent form was given to me on April 5, 2024, by the then chief justice of the Bombay high court. In September, the Supreme Court collegium recommended four names including mine. The others, all junior to me, have been elevated,” Datar told Hindustan Times. He added: “It has been nine months. There has been no word, no explanation. So, I decided to withdraw. It is for the sake of my own self-respect, and for the respect of the entire bar.”