Indu Malhotra will become the first woman lawyer to be elevated directly as a judge in the top court.
The central government has cleared the appointment of senior advocate Indu Malhotra as a judge in the Supreme Court. The appointment has come through three months after her name was recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium.
According to the sources in the Ministry, the IB sent back the file earlier this week, and the Ministry has put its stamp of approval after a nod from the Prime Minister’s Office.
However, another name recommended by the Collegium along with Malhotra is still stuck in a limbo.
The government has opted to segregate the name of Uttarakhand High Court chief justice KM Joseph and cleared only Malhotra for appointment as judges in the top court.
Justice Joseph’s file is still under consideration by the Law Ministry and there is no further movement in his case.
The decision to segregate the name was taken after the Law Ministry, sources said, arrived at a conclusion that the present was a case distinguished from an earlier instance when a former CJI had asked government not to segregate names sent by the Collegium.
