NEW DELHI, Apr 16:
To ensure greater say for the executive in appointment of judges, the Centre wants to scrap the present collegium system by replacing it with a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) headed by the Chief Justice of India with the Law Minister as a representative of the Government.
The proposed Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) will be a six-member body headed by the CJI. Two puisne judges of the Supreme Court, the Law Minister and two eminent jurists nominated by the President will be the members.
“One view has been that the Leader of the Opposition should be made a member of the JAC. This suggestion could be considered,” the Cabinet note circulated by the Law Ministry reads.
Secretary, Department of Justice will be the Convener of the panel.
The move would entail amendments to Articles 124, 217, 222 and 231 of the Constitution and insertion of Article 124 A.
The views of the Governors, Chief Ministers and respective Chief Justices of the 24 High Courts will be elicited in writing for appointment of judges as per the procedure which could be determined by the JAC.
The proposed body will recommend appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justices and judges of the High Courts. The panel will also recommend transfer of Chief Justice and judges of the High Courts.
“Any person who is not recommended for appointment as a judge by the JAC shall not be appointed by the President,” the note says.
The Department of Justice in the Law Ministry will process the recommendations made by the JAC for seeking approval of the Prime Minister and the President.
Justifying the move to scrap the collegium system, the Law Ministry said, “the need for this proposal arises primarily because the present system of appointment of judges in the country is unprecedented as in no other country in the world, does the judiciary makes appointments for itself.”
It said the present system has resulted from the decisions of the Supreme Court “which it is believed are inconsistent with the constitutional scheme.”
The note said the collegium system has no constitutional backing or Parliamentary endorsement.
“The proposed amendments will provide constitutional backing to the process of consultation through the institution of JAC and will make the process truly participatory between the executive and the judiciary without in any way compromising the independence of the judiciary,” the Cabinet note reads.
The practice of judges appointing judges started after 1993, replacing the system of Government picking judges for higher judiciary comprising the Supreme Court and High Courts.
The move to set aside the 1993 Supreme Court judgement, which led to the collegium system, will require Constitutional amendment.
The last effort to replace the collegium system in 2003 did not succeed. The then NDA Government had introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill but the Lok Sabha was dissolved when the bill was before a Standing Committee.
Amid Government’s plan to overturn the collegium system, Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir had last week strongly defended the present practice saying appointments to the higher judiciary are made after “intense deliberations”.
Responding to a question on need to replace the present collegium system at a press conference here, Justice Kabir said, “I don’t know what this criticism is about, the way judges are being appointed. Great deal of deliberation goes into the choice of the name of the judge…” (PTI)
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