Government bid – include our representatives in the Supreme Court Collegium
The Central Government has advised the Supreme Court to include its representatives in the collegium. Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has written a letter to the CJI saying that involving government representatives in the process of appointment of judges will bring transparency in the system and accountability towards the public.
Kiren Rijiju had said in November last year that the collegium system lacked transparency and accountability. He had said that the representatives of the concerned state government should be involved in the process of appointment of judges in the High Court as well. The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha has also said that the Supreme Court often interferes in the functioning of the legislature.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has reacted in this matter. He said that it is very dangerous. There should be absolutely no government interference in judicial appointments.
Two big questions on the suggestion of the Center and the appointment of judges
First- Will the Supreme Court accept the suggestion?
The Times of India has said in its report that it is difficult for the Supreme Court to accept the Law Minister’s suggestion. The collegium headed by CJI Chandrachud has 5 more members. In these Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer, Justice KM Joseph, Justice MR Shah and Justice Sanjiv Khanna. Earlier it had four more justices apart from the CJI. None of whom was the successor of the CJI. That is why later Justice Sanjiv Khanna was included in the collegium as the sixth member, who is the successor of the CJI.
The collegium is viewing this suggestion as a fresh attempt by the Supreme Court government to bring the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act (NJAC). The NJAC was passed in Parliament in 2014, but was struck down as unconstitutional by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in October 2015.
Second- What kind of change does the Center want in the selection of judges?
The NJAC which the Supreme Court has called unconstitutional in 2015. Many changes were made in it regarding the appointment of judges. In this, the CJI was to head the NJAC. Apart from these, the 2 most senior judges were to be kept. Apart from these, there was arrangement to keep Law Minister and 2 eminent people in NJAC. There was a system of selecting eminent people to the panel consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the CJI. Right now Rijiju’s letter on the appointment of judges is being considered for such a system.
Now understand what is the collegium of the Supreme Court
This is the system of appointment and transfer of judges in the High Court and the Supreme Court. The members of the collegium are the judges. They send suggestions of names for appointment of new judges to the Prime Minister and the President. After approval, the judges are appointed. The collegium system was implemented in the country in the year 1993.
There are five members in the Supreme Court Collegium
The Collegium consists of 5 members. CJI is the head in this. Apart from this, there are 4 most senior judges. Right now it has 6 judges. It is the collegium that appoints judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts and recommends their names to the Centre.
