Government moving towards judicial reforms

COLLEGIUM IN QUESTION

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

One of the primary reasons why many in the bar-and-bench want to reform the judges' appointment system is because of the regular reports and inputs that they have been receiving from members of the judiciary from across the country detailing how some individuals are being appointed as judges in High Courts for "multiple reasons".

As a consequence, the Supreme Court is putting out a robust system to ensure that only deserving candidates are either elevated or directly appointed as judges in High Courts, many of whom are then subsequently elevated as judges of the Supreme Court.

The system to appoint judges has become topical after Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on 17 October, while speaking at an event, termed the collegium system "opaque" and described the Indian selection system as the only one where judges appoint judges. "The mechanism to appoint judges is opaque," said the Law Minister.

On Friday, Rijiju, for the third time in two months stated that the collegium system of appointing judges is opaque while defending the now struck-down National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) as the "collective will of the nation". The Law Minister made these remarks while interacting with a news channel. The NJAC Act, unanimously passed by both Houses of Parliament and ratified by more than half of all the states, was struck down by a Constitution Bench of the apex court as "unconstitutional" in 2015, and the collegium system of appointing judges to High Courts and the Supreme Court was upheld.