The Supreme Court's collegium, comprising four top judges of the SC and headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI), has rejected the Centre's Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for the appointment of judges in which the government had proposed that merit of a candidate be given primacy over seniority. Indianmandarins has learnt that the top judiciary wants the MoP to instead mention 'seniority-cum-merit' as the criteria for appointment to higher judiciary. If 'merit-cum-seniority' is the criterion, officials believe, a senior judge who is not a chief justice of any high court can also be considered for elevation to the SC. Also, this criterion could allow a junior judge to supersede a senior for the post of chief justice of a high court. The merit-seniority issue assumes significance as the government had recently referred back a recommendation to the collegium for the second time even when it was reiterated by the latter for the appointment as chief justice of a prominent high court. The government is believed to have questioned the rationale of the reiteration of the collegium when there were two letters from sitting SC judges expressing reservations against the selection.