Collegium angry over not making lawyer who wrote article on PM Modi a judge, three judges including CJI instructed the Center

The Supreme Court collegium has taken a strong stand on non- appointment of judges even after recommendation. CJI DY Chandrachud and two other judges expressed their unhappiness over non- appointment of advocate John Sathyan as a judge of the Madras High Court, saying the Center was not appointing him as a judge only because he had written an article against PM Narendra Modi.

The Collegium passed a resolution against the Center also made sharp comments. It states that when we have overruled this mistake of Satyam, if given then the center to make him a judge. Why are you not taking the decision?

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice KM Joseph made scathing remarks saying that the attitude of the Center is a matter of deep concern. John Satyam’s name was recommended by the collegium on January 17 but the Center is yet not approved to make him a judge.

The collegium, in its resolution, ordered the Center to give preference to Satyam over those recommended for elevation in the first instance. He said that the Center is ignoring the recommendations of the collegium. This is a matter of deep concern.

According to a report, the collegium meeting held on March 21 discussed the recommendation to appoint four judges to the Madras High Court.

The collegium headed by DY Chandrachud has recommended the names of four district judges for appointment as judges of the Madras High Court. The Collegium appointed R Sakthivel, P Dhanabal, Chinnasamy Kumarappan and K. Rajasekhar’s name is recommended. In another resolution, the collegium also reiterated its earlier recommendation of July 25, 2022, to appoint senior advocate Harpreet Singh Brar as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Government accepts, appointment of judges is their responsibility

The collegium and the central government have been at loggerheads for a long time on the issue of appointment of judges to the High Courts as well as the Supreme Court. The Vice President along with the Law Minister of the Modi government has said on several occasions that the job of appointing judges under the Constitution rests with the government. But the Supreme Court does not accept it. He says that the responsibility of following the constitution in a better way is on the Parliament and not on any other institution. The courts should do their work. Leave the appointment of judges to the government

On the other hand, CJI DY Chandrachud has also shown the mirror to the government. Recently, he had said that there is no better system than collegium for the appointment of judges. He said that there may be some flaws in it. But this is the best practice in the current era. The arrangement of the collegium regarding the appointments of judges was made under the decision in which the Supreme Court itself had given an important decision.

The collegium was formed in 1998 under the decision of the Supreme Court

There is no mention of collegium system in the constitution of India. This system came into effect on 28 October 1998 through the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of 3 judges. In the collegium system, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a panel of 4 senior most judges of the Supreme Court recommend the appointment and transfer of judges. It is necessary for the government to accept the recommendation of the collegium (on sending it for the second time).