ANNA MATHEWS Vs. SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) REASONS

(2.) In our opinion, this legal issue is settled and is not res integra.

(3.) This Court, in Mahesh Chandra Gupta v. Union of India and Others has held that appointment of a judge is an executive function of the President of India. Article 217(1) prescribes the constitutional requirement of consultation. Fitness of a person to be appointed as a judge of the High Court is evaluated in the consultation process. Evaluation of the worth and merit of a person is a matter entirely different from eligibility of a candidate for elevation. While Article 217(2) prescribes the threshold limit or the entry point for a person to be qualified to be a judge of a High Court, Article 217(1) prescribes the procedure to be followed, which procedure is designed to test the fitness of a person so to be appointed; her character, her integrity, her competence, her knowledge and the like. Thus, this judgment draws on the basic difference between eligibility and suitability. Eligibility is an objective factor which is determined by applying the parameters or qualifications specified in Article 217(2). Therefore, when eligibility is put in question, the question would fall within the scope of judicial review. However, the question whether a person is fit to be appointed as a judge essentially involves the aspect of suitability and stands excluded from the purview of judicial review.