A division bench in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, came to a standstill on 8 January, when a judge of Madras High Court walked in unexpected in the packed courtroom and expressed his displeasure over the selection of additional judges by the collegium. Interestingly, the division bench was hearing a writ petition against the appointment of 12 additional judges who, as many claim, were given priority because they hail from upper class.
The high court collegium had selected 12 people to be appointed additional judges as the Madras High Court has only 47 judges at present against its sanctioned strength of 60. But the list drew instant condemnation from a large section of advocates who charged that all the three chosen from the bar were Brahmins while the backward communities remained under-represented. A writ petition demanding release of a fresh list has been filed by R Gandhi, a senior advocate and former president of the bar association.