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DONT SCRAP COLLEGIUM, JUDICIARY TO GOVT

Both outgoing CJI Altamas Kabir and his successor Justic P Sathasivam have defended the collegium system, saying appointments to the higher judiciary are made after intense deliberations New Delhi : T he Governments move to scrap the collegium system of appointing judges is f acing opposition f rom the judiciary, creating prospects of f urther delay in setting up of a Judicial Appointment Commission in which executive seeks to have a say. A top government f unctionary said that the judiciary is opposing the move to overturn the two-decade-old system, saying there is no need to change the mechanism.Outgoing Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir recently def ended the collegium system, saying appointments to the higher judiciary are made af ter intense deliberations. His successor Justice P Sathasivam too has asserted that there is no need to change the collegium system. T he CJI-designate has opposed any change to the mechanism, the f unctionary said while explaining why it would be dif f icult to scrap it in the near f uture. Complicating things f or the government, the Opposition is also not playing ball, he said. Various political parties have demanded that government should bring all bills relating to judicial ref orms together. A senior Opposition leader has also suggested a ban on post-retirement government assignments f or senior judges. With next general election now months away and Parliament f ailing to f unction due to repeated disruptions, government will f ind it tough to get the Constitutional amendment bill passed required to scrap the collegium system. T he f unctionary said government would succeed some day if not any time soon to bring in a new mechanism which is more corroborative. Law Minister Kapil Sibal had recently said that the collegium system of appointing judges has not worked to the expectations and the government must have a say in such appointments. Sibal had said he would very soon move a proposal in the Cabinet to replace the collegium system with the Judicial Appointment Commission which will give a say to the Executive in the appointments of judges to the Supreme Court and high courts. We do not think that the collegium system has worked to our expectations. I dont think it even worked to the expectations of the judiciary, he said while justif ying the need f or scrapping the system. T he practice of judges appointing judges started af ter 1993, replacing the system of government picking judges f or higher judiciary comprising the Supreme Court and high courts. According to the government proposal, a six-member Judicial Appointments Commission headed by the Chief Justice of India with the Law Minister as a representative of the government would be set up to select judges f or the higher courts. T he JAC will also have two judges of the Supreme Court, two eminent jurists nominated by the President as members. T he government is open to include the Leader of Opposition in the Commission. T he proposal was on the agenda of the Union Cabinet on April 18, but could not be taken up. T he collegium is a f ive-member body headed by the Chief Justice of India and includes f our other senior-most judges.

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