New Delhi, July 25 -- Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai on Thursday said he has been trying to persuade the Union government on the administrative side to expedite judicial appointments, even as he lamented that an "extraordinary" woman lawyer recently withdrew her consent for elevation to the Delhi High Court after waiting for nearly a year without any response from the Centre. The CJI's anguish over the Centre's inaction on judicial appointments came after a long-pending contempt plea over delays in processing collegium recommendations was mentioned for assigning a date of hearing. Senior counsel Arvind Datar, representing for the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, mentioned the plea concerning prolonged delays by the Union government in clearing names recommended, and often reiterated by the collegium for various HC appointments. Datar pointed out that some names were pending since 2019, despite multiple reiterations in 2021 and 2022. "It cannot be three or four years. Timelines have also been laid down by this court," said Data. The matter was last listed in December 2023, but dropped on the day it was fixed before a bench led by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul (since retired), he said....