Collegium System Row: There has always been talk of delay in getting justice in India, the situation is that the total number of pending cases in the country is about to reach five crores. Despite this, there is a constant state of conflict between the central government and the Supreme Court regarding the appointment of judges. Both sides are accusing each other. The Supreme Court argues that the government is not accepting the names given by the collegium, while the government says that there is a need to change the collegium system. Even the Law Minister has openly spoken that the government should get its rights.
For the last one month, this controversy is continuously increasing and now the government is coming on the front foot and making direct comments on the Supreme Court. Let’s understand this whole controversy and know from the experts why there is so much tension regarding the appointment of collegium and judges. Along with this, he will also explain what kind of changes the government wants in the Collegium and what is the stand of the Supreme Court on this.
Why is the controversy increasing?
The biggest question in this whole matter is that why the government is continuously working to fuel the controversy on this matter. To understand this, we spoke to KC Kaushik, a constitutional expert and former ASG of India. In this conversation with us, he said, what the government is doing, it should not be doing. The Supreme Court had given a judgement, in which the power to appoint judges was given to the collegium instead of the government. Until and unless this decision is overturned, this type of debate is useless. Because if the Supreme Court has given the judgement, then it is considered as the law of the land. Instead of making statements, the government should bring a law on this. Usually this happens, when the government does not agree with any judgment of the Supreme Court, then a law is made in the Parliament.
Why is the government making statements?
When we asked former ASG KC Kaushik that why the government is making rhetoric regarding this matter? So on this he said, the people sitting in power constantly try to harm the judiciary. This problem is coming from the time the Indian constitution was made. The government is scared before making the law. The government feels that if we bring the law again, then the Supreme Court may cancel it again in judicial scrutiny. This will make the government more dirty. According to the rules, if the collegium recommends a name again, then the government will have to accept it, which the government is not doing at present. Statements are being made to justify this.
News Reels
How can the dispute be resolved?
We also asked the constitution expert Kaushik that what is the way through which this whole dispute can be resolved. Responding to which he said, there are some shortcomings in the collegium as well which need to be rectified. The Constitution Bench itself can sit and rectify this. On the other hand, if the government wants to improve it, then the government should get the law passed in the parliament again. The basis on which the Supreme Court had canceled the previous law (National Judicial Appointments Commission), after making some improvements in it, put it in front again. The government can do this. Nothing will be achieved by unnecessary rhetoric on this issue. You have to work under the system only.
What is collegium system?
Collegium is a system under which appointments and transfers of judges are made in the High Court and the Supreme Court. A total of five senior judges of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice of India, are included in the collegium. Similarly, the appointment of judges in the High Court is recommended by the collegium of the Chief Justice of the High Court and two senior judges. Now if you are thinking that this system is made according to any law made in the Parliament or the constitution, then you are wrong. The collegium system has been created from two decisions of the Supreme Court.
What rights does the government have?
Now you have understood what is collegium system, but after this, let us understand the role of the government in it. The collegium sends the recommendation of the names of the judges to the government. After which the government considers them. During this, if the government has objections to some names, it can ask the collegium to reconsider them. However, if those names are recommended by the Collegium again, the government will have to accept them. That is, the job of the government is only to give suggestions. Because of this, the government delays in giving its answer on those names, whose appointment it has objections. This is the reason why the government is now talking about changing this system.
how the whole controversy escalated
Governments have been raising questions on the collegium system many times in a low voice, but this time the controversy has come out in the open. In fact, out of 21 names given by the Collegium, the Central Government sent back 19 names, that is, the Center had objections to all these names. After this, the Supreme Court again sent the recommendation of 10 of these names to the government, which the government is bound to accept. The government did not give any answer on this, that is, the appointments were left in limbo. The Supreme Court expressed displeasure on this and said that “the collegium is the law of the land, it should be followed.”
After this, a statement came out from Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, in which he said that the Supreme Court canceled the National Judicial Appointments Commission and it was not even discussed… This is surprising. He said that the law passed by the Parliament reflects the will of the people, yet it was repealed. After the Vice President, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju is making open statements on this matter. He has directly said in the Parliament that it is necessary to change the collegium system, because the government should have the right to appoint. Our country is governed by the Constitution and governed by the sentiments of the people, but work is not being done according to it.
What change does the government want?
Now the last question is what changes the government wants to make in the collegium. The government argues that the system of collegium should be changed, under which the government is bound to accept the decision of the judges. The government says that they should also have the right to appoint judges. The government wants to implement the same system which was there before 1993. Then the President used to appoint judges after consulting the judges, but the final decision had to be taken by the President. However, after this, the second decision of the Supreme Court came in 1993, in which it was decided that the final decision would be of the judges only. The President will appoint only the names of the group of judges who want to be appointed. After this the system of Collegium started.
Opposition to National Judicial Commission Bill in Parliament
In the winter session of Parliament, a CPI(M) MP introduced a private member’s bill related to the National Judicial Commission in the Rajya Sabha. Which was opposed by the opposition parties. Opposing this, Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha said, “The concept of NJAC has come before the Supreme Court about three times in the past. For the first time in 1993, second time in 1998 during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and third time in 2016, all the three times the Supreme Court rejected the NJAC framework giving importance to the independence of the judiciary. He said that the system of appointment of judges is going well, it can be changed through dialogue. We should not give any such power to the Central Government, in which they enter into the appointment of judges. Just like it happens in the appointment of CBI and ED director, similarly they want to enter judicial appointment as well.
read this also – Despite strict laws, acid is easily available, know what are the rules and punishment for selling acid
