Former Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on Wednesday came out in support of his current counterpart Kiren Rijiju and said that the time has come for a debate on judicial appointments through the collegium system.
Union Law Minister Rijiju yesterday said that the collegium system was "opaque" and described the Indian selection system as the only one where judges appoint judges.
Speaking to ANI, Ashwani Kumar said, "the statement of the Law Minister expressing reservations about the collegium system in the matter of judicial appointments comes as no surprise. His views are in accord with experience and a wide political consensus on the subject in the country."
"The collegium system is a creation of judicial interpretation inconsistent with the intent of the Constitution expressed in the relevant Article of the national charter," he said.
The former Union minister said that by striking down Parliament's law for changes in the appointments system, the Supreme Court in a sense became a judge in its own case.
"It did so by equating independence of the judiciary with the mode of judicial appointments. This fallacious equivalence is evidenced by the fact that prior to the creation of the collegium mechanism, judges of great merit and independence were appointed by governments of the day," Kumar said.
The challenge, therefore, is to ensure the appointment of persons with impeccable intellectual and personal integrity, men and women of merit and substance as judges, he remarked.
He said there is no warrant in the Constitution to suggest that this cannot be done by the Executive or that the collegium system in its present form can alone ensure judicial independence.
"Perhaps, the time has come to debate the issue in-depth and at larger forums. It is clearly imperative to reexamine from time to time constitutional assumptions so that the Constitution can serve as the articulator of national conscience," Kumar added.
"The mechanism to appoint judges is opaque," said the minister, adding the common man can see twists and turns in the politics but the politics within the judiciary over the appointment of judges is not visible.
The collegium in the top court comprises its first five judges, including the Chief Justice of India.
Emphasizing the need for reforms in judicial appointments, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has said the procedure of the collegium system is very opaque and there exists "internal politics" in the judiciary.
Notably, the Supreme Court collegium is presided over by the Chief Justice of India and consists of the four senior-most judges of the court. Though the government can raise objections or seek clarifications with respect to the recommendations of the collegium, the government is bound to approve the names if the five-member body reiterates them.
Rijiju said as per the spirit of the Constitution, appointing judges is the job of the government.
In 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government brought the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act in an attempt to change the system of appointment of judges.
The NJAC was a proposed body, which would have been responsible for the appointment and transfer of judges to the higher judiciary. The NJAC Act and the Constitutional Amendment Act came into force on April 13, 2015. But the top court on October 16, 2015, struck down the NJAC Act. The verdict brought back the primacy of the collegium system of judges appointing judges.
( With inputs from ANI )
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