Ex-CJIs welcome SC decision to improve system of appointing judges

NEW DELHI: Former Chief Justices of India have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to invite suggestions to improve the collegium system of appointing judges that was restored last week.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice JS Kehar on October 16 struck down the constitutional amendment and the law by which the 22-year-old opaque collegium system was to be replaced by a panel of six persons for appointments in judiciary. The panel conceived allowed executive’s participation, thereby ending the practise of judges appointing judges.

Given the criticism it received even from the petitioners who challenged the NJAC, the bench has sought help from the bar and civil society to make the process of appointments more transparent. Former chief justice RM Lodha — under whose tenure the SC bench after a gap of 16 years got two judges directly from the top court’s bar — said there was an immediate need to make the system more transparent.

“It is necessary, important and needs to be done. It should be institutionalised and not individual-based,” Justice Lodha told HT. The former CJI — who as the judicial head publicly favoured the collegium system — said constitutional appointments can no longer be shrouded in secrecy.

However, he said, NJAC was not the perfect solution because its composition violated judicial independence. “In a panel of six members, you have three not related to judiciary. Two of them have veto powers, which means they can undo what a CJI and the two senior-most judges of the SC suggest. This overrides primacy of judiciary and compromises with its independence,” he said.

His colleague and former CJI KG Balakrishnan, however, felt the SC should have given a chance to NJAC.