Judges appointing judges may soon become history

Judges appointing judges may soon become history

Pradeep Thakur TNN 

New Delhi:The government has finally decided to not let judges appoint themselves anymore. The Union Cabinet is likely to soon consider a bold proposal to replace the collegium system of appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and highcourts where the CJI , along with four seniormost judges of the apex court, enjoy the prerogative of picking up members of higher judiciary. 
    According to sources, government proposes to vest the power of appointment of judges of the SC in a broad-based mechanism which will consist of the leader of opposition, an eminent jurist and the law minister, besides the CJI and two senior-most judges of the top court. 
Similarly, for appointments of HC judges, the government proposes a panel consisting of the leader of opposition and law minister of the state concerned, an eminent jurist and the chief justice of the high court. Govt had key role in hiring judges till ’93 
New Delhi: The law ministry is waiting for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s approval for the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill. Under the proposed system, for appointments of HC judges, the government proposes a panel consisting of the leader of opposition, law minister of the state concerned, an eminent jurist and the chief justice of the high court. 
    The government had the upper hand in appointment of judges until 1993 when the judiciary acquired primacy in the process, courtesy an SC judgment. The judgment turfed out the executive completely, vesting the prerogative solely in the CJI and four of his seniormost colleagues in the apex court. The judgment said the constitutional provision for consulting judges should be interpreted as a requirement of their concurrence: something that at once transformed the requirement to consult judges into an obligation to heed them. 
    Although the government can return the recommendations of the collegium for its reconsideration, it has no role to play if the CJI and his colleagues stick to their choices. 
    The judiciary's monopoly over appointments of judges of the SC and HCs has been a source of serious heartburn to the political class, while even judges, including former CJI J S Verma who accorded primacy to the judiciary, have acknowledged that the collegium system in practice has been prone to favouritism and needs to be reformed. 
    The move to challenge the status quo is likely to find broad support from the political class, with the resentment of judicial overreach likely to be the additional driver. 
    Sources said the BJP has indicated its “in-principle” support to the move that seeks to make the system of judicial appointments more transparent. According to them, government had consulted leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley while drafting the JAC Bill. 
NEW SCHOOL COLLEGIUM SYSTEM Introduced in 1993, gives “primacy” to senior judges in the Supreme Court and their counterparts in deciding appointments to higher judiciary 
JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS COMMISSION | Designed to let the law minister, leader of opposition and jurists have a say, besides three senior judges 
SYSTEMS IN UK AND US 
    UK has a Judicial Appointments Commission, which has 15 members drawn from the judiciary, legal profession, magistracy and the public. Selection is done through ‘open and fair competition’ 
    For appointments to the US Supreme Court and federal courts, the President makes the nominations which are subject to confirmation by the bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee