Contempt petition by Jharkhand catches Attorney General off guard in Supreme Court

In an exchange that unfolded on Thursday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud confronted Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani, bringing to light a contempt petition filed by the Jharkhand government against the Centre. The petition accused the government of delaying the appointment of the Jharkhand High Court’s Chief Justice. The Attorney General, in response, claimed to be unaware of the matter.
“There is also a contempt petition filed by the State of Jharkhand,” the Chief Justice remarked during the exchange. He went on to explain the peculiar circumstances in which this information came to him, stating, “This was just pointed out to me last night when I was leaving for home… that the State of Jharkhand has filed a contempt against the Union of India. This was brought to my attention yesterday,” Live Law reported.
The Attorney General responded, saying “We were not aware of the petition.”
The exchange took place during a discussion about a petition concerning judicial appointments scheduled for a hearing tomorrow, for which the Attorney General sought a postponement.
Venkataramani informed the Chief Justice that a decision on the pending Collegium recommendations for the appointment of High Court Chief Justices would likely be made soon.
Referring to a petition seeking directives for the government to address Collegium recommendations within a set timeframe, the Attorney General said, “I request that the matter listed for tomorrow be deferred by a week. I should be able to provide a more concrete update by then.”
However, the Chief Justice stated that the list for tomorrow’s hearing is already released. Let the matter remain listed, Chandrachud stated, while suggesting that the Attorney General can make a mention regarding the adjournment tomorrow when the petitioner is also present.
Earlier in July, the Supreme Court Collegium had made recommendations for the appointment of the Chief Justice of the eighth High Court, which remains pending before the government.
During a hearing last week on a petition concerning judicial appointments, the Attorney General informed the top court that he had “sensitive information” related to the Collegium’s recommendations. As a result, the matter was adjourned until September 20.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Collegium revised three of its earlier recommendations made in the July 11 resolution.