The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition filed by a Himachal Pradesh judicial officer seeking a direction to the High Court Collegium to consider his name for appointment as a high court judge.On behalf of petitioner Arvind Malhotra, senior counsel Balbir Singh submitted before a Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that the Supreme Court had in September 2024 directed the High Court Collegium to reconsider the names of the petitioner and another judge but the petitioner’s name has not been considered.Malhotra — a Principal Judge, Family Court posted at Dharamsala in Kangra district — was aggrieved by the fact that the High Court Collegium recommended the names of his ‘juniors’ which were approved by the Supreme Court Collegium.He alleged that the three judicial officers recommended for elevation to the Himachal Pradesh High Court — Chirag Bhanu Singh, Bhupesh Sharma and Yogesh Jaswal — were junior to him.“Merely because you are a senior (judicial officer) does not mean you will be recommended. Once Collegium discusses, we cannot intervene. There is secrecy involved also,” the Bench told senior advocate Balbir Singh, who represented Malhotra.The Bench pointed out that the petitioner cannot challenge the High Court Collegium’s decision after it was approved and superseded by the Supreme Court Collegium.Noting that it is a matter of subjective satisfaction of the Collegium, the Bench wondered if it could be judicially examined.“Can, on the judicial side, the Supreme Court say to the collegium you do this, you do that, you consider his name? It can’t be done. It’s beyond the scope of the jurisdiction,” the Bench told Singh.“We don’t want to open the Pandora’s Box by enquiring into the decisions of High Court and Supreme Court Collegiums at this stage,” the Bench said.Noting that Malhotra has years of service left and vacancies will arise in the future, the Bench said, “Please wait, let’s see what the (HC) collegium there will do. There may not be any rejection of your candidature… We don’t know if his name has been deferred or reconsidered. You have some patience and wait.”As the petitioner sought to withdraw the petition, the Bench disposed of Malhotra’s plea with liberty to seek appropriate reliefs before the competent authority of the High Court on the administrative side or seek remedies on the judicial side.Malhotra moved the top court after the Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on June 2 recommended the elevation of three judicial officers for appointment as judges of the Himachal Pradesh High Court which has been functioning with only 12 judges against a sanctioned strength of 17, including the Chief Justice.