On Judges’ Appointments, Supreme Court’s Tough Talk For Government

Barely ten days after a stern warning to the Centre over its delay in clearing judicial appointments, the Supreme Court today pulled up the government over its weekly swipes at the Collegium system of appointments to the higher judiciary.

The Collegium system is the “law of the land” which should be “followed to the teeth”, the top court said, adding that just because there are some sections of the society who express a view against the Collegium system, it will not cease to be the law of the land.

“Comments on the Supreme Court Collegium by government functionaries are not well taken, you have to advise them,” the top court told Attorney General R Venkataramani today, adding that any law declared by the Supreme Court is binding on all stakeholders.

“Parliament has the right to enact a law, but the power to scrutinise it lies with the court. It is important that law laid down by this court is followed, else people would follow law which they think is correct,” the Supreme Court further said.

Noting that the Attorney General will discuss the case with the government, the Supreme Court adjourned the case over delay in appointment of judges to the higher judiciary for next week.

The Supreme Court had on November 28 questioned the government’s delay in clearing judicial appointments, saying it was “crossing the Rubicon”. “Till the law stands, it has to be followed… Don’t make us take a judicial decision in this regard,” the court had warned.

The court had also given a thumbs down to Law Minister Kiren Rijiju’s recent comment that the Collegium system was “alien” to the Constitution. “When someone in a high position says that… it should not have happened,” the Supreme Court said.

At a recent Times Now Summit, Mr Rijiju, who expressed reservations about the method of judicial appointments earlier as well, said the top court created the collegium and before 1991, judges were appointed by the government.

The top court had said the Centre cannot hold names back without mentioning its reservations. “Once the Collegium reiterates a name, it is the end of the chapter… It (the government) is crossing the Rubicon by keeping the names pending like this,” the court said.

The judges — Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S Oka, and Vikram Nath — had also questioned if the National Judicial Appointments Commission not passing muster was the reason that the government is not happy. Justice Kaul is part of the Collegium and the second senior-most judge in the top court.