Call for appointing sitting judges to tribunals and commissions
New Delhi, India - Adish C Aggarwala, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, requesting to introduce suitable amendments in statutes to provide the appointment of sitting judges instead of retired judges to tribunals and commissions.
In his letter, Adish said: “I wish to highlight the impact of the appointment of retired judges of the Supreme Court and high courts as chairpersons and members of commissions and tribunals and other such positions by the government on the perception of people about the neutrality of these judges and of the decisions that had been rendered by these judges while they were in service. The government is, as is well known, the biggest litigant in the courts. Apart from cases by or against the government, there are cases involving ministers and other politically active persons. The judge who is deciding a case is looked on as an impartial umpire who is not approachable by either party.”
“When this judge is, immediately upon retirement, handpicked by the government to hold a certain position, people cannot help but speculate if the judge was appeasing the government when occupying the chair to be favourably considered by the government on his retirement, in return for the favour,” he added.
The President of the Supreme Court Bar Association also mentioned that this trend had started in 1988.
“The Consumer Protection Act and later the Protection of Human Rights Act set up consumer courts and human rights commissions, which were headed by retired judges. There is now a large number of retired Supreme Court judges, chief Justices and judges of different high courts who are presiding over commissions and tribunals in different parts of India, having been appointed by the central and state governments,” he pointed out.
He also mentioned that there is a crying need to amend the statutes to change the eligibility requirement from a retired judge to sitting judges or practicing lawyers.
Adish Aggarwala further added that the Constitution itself provides for the direct appointment of advocates as judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.