Supreme Court agrees to list petition against Collegium system

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 17

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to consider listing “in due course” a PIL urging it to reconsider the Collegium system of judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and the high courts.

Collegium-type system for ecs opposed

• The Centre on Thursday opposed in the SC pleas seeking a collegium-type system to appoint CEC and ECs
• Any attempt to do this would amount to constitutional amendment, the Centre said
• The SC sought to know why Parliament had not been able to come up with any law dealing with the appointment of CEC and ECs

The PIL – which came close on the heels of Law Minister Kiren Rijiju criticising the Collegium system under which judges appoint judges – was mentioned by advocate Mathews J Nedumpara before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for urgent listing.

Referring to the 2015 Constitution Bench verdict declaring unconstitutional the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act and the Constitution (99th Amendment) Act, 2014, reviving the Collegium system, Nedumpara said the verdict thwarted the “will of the people”. Pointing out that the Collegium system was created by a nine-judge Constitution Bench verdict in 1993, CJI Chandrachud wondered if it could be challenged in a petition. The CJI, however, said it would be listed “in due course”.

Amid criticism of the Collegium system, former CJI UU Lalit had on Sunday defended it, saying it’s here to stay. “According to me, it (Collegium system) is perfect the way it stands today... it has proved to have worked effectively,” Justice Lalit, who demitted office as the 49th CJI on November 8, said. He had, however, said Parliament was free to enact a law like the NJAC once again, if it wished to.

Alleging that the Collegium system of appointment of judges had resulted in denial of equal opportunity to thousands of eligible, meritorious and deserving lawyers, the petition sought revival of the NJAC under which the government had some role along with the judiciary in the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and high courts.

It said the 2015 NJAC judgment should be rendered void ab initio as it had revived the Collegium system – a “synonym for nepotism and favouritism”.

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