The Supreme Court collegium, or a group of five most-senior judges, is meeting at 1 pm today to take a call on Justice KM Joseph's elevation to the top court that was rejected by the government in April. 

This is the collegium's second meeting to firm up its response to the centre's decision that has set up a face-off between the judiciary and the executive and has been described as an attack on the independence of the judiciary. 

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad denies that the centre's decision had anything to do with the Uttarakhand high court Chief Justice's 2016 verdict cancelling President's rule in the state. 

Prasad calls it a legitimate exercise of the powers granted by the top court in several rulings.

At its meeting last week, the country's five top judges were learnt to have decided to draft a point-by-point rejoinder to the centre that questioned their choice. But it also discussed names of judges from three other high courts in view of what the court called, was the "concept of fair representation".